Any one heard of Dr. Sims

[faith]

hi myrose,

what I think is that the foods, diet, supplements and whatever other natural treatments we persue, ARE of a help even if what Dr. Sims proposes is so. For all of this is aimed at calming and preventing or eliminating inflammation in the nervous system. muscles, and the whole body for that matter. I don't believe that this would negate any of this.

 

glad to hear things are good with your little girl.

 

Faith

[suzsinging]

We just returned from vacation and I have been reading these posts with amazing interest! My son's tics started around age 7 or 8 with throat clearing and sniffing right around the time he was losing teeth and new teeth were coming in with an obvious overbite. We were advised to do orthodontics around age 13 because of jaw misalignment and that is when his tics went crazy. We went with a dr. who suggested a "herbst" appliance to pull his lower jaw forward to avoid pulling teeth. At the time we blamed the braces for his tics but thought they would go away when the braces came off. That's when the other motor tics started.

 

Last year, at 15, our dentist said he needed a bite splint because he was grinding his teeth so badly and I explained about his tourettes. Our dentist even said that any misalignment of the jaw can cause tics. The bite splint has stopped the teeth grinding so i am very curious about Dr. Sims' appliance but worry too that it could cause more tics.

 

All i know is that when i mentioned it to my husband and son they were ready to head to Maryland. Eager to hear from those who have made appts. I may call for more info myself.

 

thanks to all who post here!! dietary changes have made a difference in my son (along with supplements) But most of all, the support and understading is invaluable! God Bless!

[lss]

We are going to have an appointment on Monday, the 29 with my girl.

I will try to make a list of questions and will post the answers. When we talked to him (Dr. Sims ) he did not mentioned any surgery, just braces, but I will make sure what is the following procedure.

 

 

Gemi,

 

I'm curious how your appointment with Dr. Sims went? Please post as soon as possible, I'm sure I speak for several people here, that we are all waiting to hear good news!

Linda

[CSP]

I was thinking about Gemi Monday, and hoping all went well. Don't know were she was coming from, maybe she had to stay a few days and does not have a computer with them to check in.

 

Praying for you,

CP

[Gemi]

I am sorry I did not post earlier. I was tying to schedule some appointments. Let me start from the beginning.

Dr. Sims made a very good impression on my husband and me. He explained how he came to the conclusion that tics are connected with TMJ problem. It took from him 1&1/2 years going to the libraries and research. Before the visit we have received the questioner. I was not too precise and did not answer one of the applications. He asked me to complete to all the questions on all the papers. Guys, who have the appointment with him, my advice is to complete all the needed paper work. Next he brought the paper images of the jaws and explained how all this works. If the jaws are not aligned properly they suppress the nerve #5 (cranial nerve). This nerve is located in the front of the ears right where the jaws meet. This nerve # 5 is responsible for the sensory, teeth grinding etc tics. Then nerve # 5 goes to that place on the neck (probably beginning of the spinal cord, please do not hold me on all these terms, I do not have a medical degree) and meets with nerve # 7, which is responsible for facial tics, then along it meets with nerve #9 which responsible for upper body motor tics, and also where all those nerves meet there is like a nerve net where nerve # 5 ,if it is suppressed and give wrong signals, have the access to all the nerves which are responsible for all part of the body. I believe all this is described in his pilot study. Somebody posted the link to it. After that Dr. Sims examined that my daughter is a classic case. She has a very deep overbite and her lower jaw instead of growing forward grew back. Her open moth measurements are smaller then they should be. Also he examined her neck, back and head and she responded with pain to all the points he suppressed. Actually, she said that that point where the nerve #5 is located always hurts, she thought that that is because she constantly felt that her nose is stuffy and her ear hurts due to she always felt a little sick. All this also explained her head aches that she had from early child hood. After that he explained the steps of the treatment.

1. He puts the device for 6-9 month. He wants it to be worn 24/7. The less you wear it the more time you need for the muscled and jaws to be brought to the right position. Some people need the lower jaw device, some upper jaw, and some upper and lower jaws devices.

2 By the time the device is out, her muscles in the mouth will be trained to be put in a different position. Actually, he told, that if he will be performing the step # 2 (braises), he will cut the device gradually from the back and will put the braces along the way with the rubber bands in order to bring the jaws and teeth in the right alignment. As I understood, he will start doing braces when the tics are gone without the mouth piece being in. Guys if your going to go to the appointments, please clarify that he will start doing braces when the tics are not present even without mouth piece in. Braces may take 24-36 months.

3 Retainer to support the ortho work.

 

Now further steps and financial part. We paid $312 for the appointment. Actually, Dr Sims said that we do not have to do everything with him, if we want, we can find a dentist and if he is willing to do the work he will share all the information with him. To finish the diagnose and to determine which mouth piece my daughter needs, he requested the full mouth x-ray (I hope we will be able to do this through our insurance) and TMJ MRI. Here the fun part comes. My doctor refused to order the MRI through my primary insurance with the TMJ diagnose and he said that they will not approve the MRI . Dr. Sims requested TMJ Dislocation/Effusion images and Avascular Necrosis images with open and close mouth. If my primary doctor will refuse to help and insurance will refuse to pay we would have to pay around $900 for the MRI. Once we will receive the MRI and x-ray we will go back to Dr. Sims and he will determine which kind of device my daughter needs and will put the temporary device in just to see how it works. For that appointment we also have to pay another $312 + if we will decide to order the device another $1600. As I understood in a week we will have to come back and try the actual device on and pay another $312 for the third appointment. So the bottom line 3 appointments $312 * 3 = $936 + device$1600 + MRI$900. When I was writing all this it hit me that if a child needs upper and lower devices is it going to two times more.

 

Dr. Sims explanations and arguments about tics were falling just right into the picture of this sickness. For us it looked just like the missing piece that solves the puzzle which we were trying to solve all those years. I just have some concerns that I would like to share with you. What if a child naturally will grow those jaws? As far as I know upper and lower jaws grow at different times. My daughter still has 6 upper and 2 lower teeth to change but she still has this deep over bite that may prevent the right growth. On the other hand Dr. Sims said when the child is in the growing period, their window for success is very wide. Any way, Dr. Sims would need the x-ray and MRI to find out more. After we will get them we will come back to him.

[MichaelTampa]

Thanks for the update. Gosh, that's quite a few complications that developed. I'm sorry to hear about all that, and hope you can sort through it. Yes, tourette's does go away for many children before they become adults, and this all fits the possibility of as the bones finish growing, they end up in good places in the end. That's a tough situation to work through, you don't know what's going to happen, do you tough it out hoping it gets better, or do something now. I'm sure we're all pulling for you, hoping you can figure that out somehow.

 

For those that are interested, I have made an appointment for July 21. My wife and I will drive up from Tampa. Most of my tics are the emotional/thought tics (things that end up looking like anxiety, depression, bipolar, OCD, ...). That has the added complication of, it may not be so easy to know if the tics go away just like that, versus someone who is constantly having motor tics. I am considering hiring a local acupuncturist or someone like that to be there and help out with some energy testing in terms of answering the, "is this better", "is that better" questions. Thanks for pointing out, it seems like it's not just the trigeminal nerve (#5), it can be others involved as well.

 

When you have time, can you explain more about the situation of your doctor ordering the MRI's? Is this something where you called your doctor? I'm wondering if I should be trying to visit a local doctor before going there. I'm a bit confused about how the logistics of that all work out.

[mommyof2]

Thanks for the update...this is interesting. I sent the info to our pediatrician and our orthodontist to see if they wanted to research it.... This does fit in with my sons headaches...he said he gets them daily and they feel like his head will explode.... love to see the tics and headaches leave. I remember when I had tmj for a fall when I was younger the headaches I would have. Thinkng back my son had a bad hit on the chin when he was younger tooo...... interesting.

 

I am thinking my pediatrician would do whatever I needed, he has been a Godsent to all of this and so helpful and understanding.

Mary

[ccc]

Gemi,

 

I was wondering if they offered to do the x-rays there for you. I spoke with them today regarding our appointment and asked them about the MRI. They said it would be best but alot of times kids with ts can not be still long enough for the MRI. They told me they would do x-rays there. We are planing on staying all week because the said the applainces would be in by Thursday. Just wondering why they did not do that for you. My son has vocal tics that are bad right now that causes his head and mouth to move there is no way an MRI would work.

[mommyof2]

We had an MRI done on our son about a year ago to cross out any brain issues...wonder if that one could still be used or if they have to have a specifice one.... would be nice if it was able to be used

Mary

[ilovedogs]

This is all very interesting to me and I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say after they speak to Dr Sims.

Looking back on my son's tics I know that they started shortly after he had an orthodontic appliance put in his mouth(it's still there). He's had it in for 2 years now. All of his tics are focused around the jaw, muscles of the face and neck. His tics definitely increase when he is losing teeth. He also complains of jaw pain periodically especially around the ear and I'm guessing he does have TMJ since both my mom and I have it on and off through the years.

 

So many questions! If any of you have success, I will be bringing this 'theory' to the attention of our orthodontist and to our naturopath. Good luck to everyone who's taking the time to see this doctor!

 

Bonnie

[Dalit]

b

[Dalit]

Gemi,

 

Thank you for your detailed update. One thing I could not figure out from your post is this: From previous posts, I understand that one of Dr. Sims claims is that in the first appointment, before proceeding for the treatment, you are sure to know if this is working for you or your child, as while he's adjusting the mouth, the tics stop immediately. After that he goes forward and makes accurate measurements and orders the device. Was this occuring in your appointment?

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Dalit

[Char]

Gemi,

 

Thanks for posting your experience you had at your visit with Dr.Sims. Have you made another app. with Dr.Sim yet? Will Dr.Sim do the X-ray at his office? Thanks for any feedback, Char...

[lss]

Gemi,

 

Thanks for posting your experience you had at your visit with Dr.Sims. Have you made another app. with Dr.Sim yet? Will Dr.Sim do the X-ray at his office? Thanks for any feedback, Char...

 

 

Char,

 

I called Dr. Sims office and was told that at your first visit which costs $312, they actually will determine if the device would work for you, and if you decide at that point to continue then you would order the device made especially for you, which takes about 1 week. If at the first visit you decide the device doesn't really work to your satisfaction and is not for you then, your expense is only the initial $312. Total cost is $5,057.

 

She also said Dr. Sims could do the x-ray or your dentist could do it. I actually took the papers to my dentist this afternoon to see what he thought of the device and Dr. Sims' theory as to why this would work. I am waiting to hear back from him.

 

Linda

[mommyof2]

Wow that was more than I thought they were saying...thought it was only about 3000.00

Waiting to hear back from our ortho. also

 

 

Gemi,

 

Thanks for posting your experience you had at your visit with Dr.Sims. Have you made another app. with Dr.Sim yet? Will Dr.Sim do the X-ray at his office? Thanks for any feedback, Char...

 

 

Char,

 

I called Dr. Sims office and was told that at your first visit which costs $312, they actually will determine if the device would work for you, and if you decide at that point to continue then you would order the device made especially for you, which takes about 1 week. If at the first visit you decide the device doesn't really work to your satisfaction and is not for you then, your expense is only the initial $312. Total cost is $5,057.

 

She also said Dr. Sims could do the x-ray or your dentist could do it. I actually took the papers to my dentist this afternoon to see what he thought of the device and Dr. Sims' theory as to why this would work. I am waiting to hear back from him.

 

Linda