My son has really benefitted from a TMJ mouthpiece . .

[Keri]

Greetings! Just became a member. My son is 10 years old, has a cleft palate, ADHD, a Mood Disorder, is in his second stage of orthodontia. He was complaining of his jaw bothering and hurting him last month, and has developed more intensive tics beyond eye blinking, sniffing and clearing his throat, and now is demonstrating a jerking of his face/neck and making more of a grunting noise. We have been working with a psychiatrist who has prescribed the usual pharmacological treatments mostly to treat his ADHD and just recently Risperdal for his tics, which I am not comfortable with. I have just begun to try to identify any triggers for his tics, but it doesn't seem that I can pinpoint any one thing because there is so much inconsistency. I will keep trying though. His vocal "tic" although not formally diagnosed with Tourette's yet seems to have developed and become more severe at about the time of his second set of braces. After I read the posting from Alan and went on line to find out more about Dr. Brendan Stack of Vienna, VA, iIt seems like something that I would like to pursue and research more. Just wanted to thank you for the resource and suggestion, Alan. I hope we can find something that helps as much as it helped your son!

[StillHopeful]

Hi Keri --

 

I am also exploring options in regards to the mouth guard. If you are near the NY area you may be intersted in a study that Weil Cornell is doing in conjunction with a dentist in Suffern NY. If your child qualified it would be free. You might also want to find out more about PANDAS/PANS if you are looking for triggers (strep, viruses,lyme, allergies, etc...). Good luck!