Dianne contacted The TMJ Association to express her frustration with TMJ problems.

Dianne wrote: “My doctors are stumped and I’ve exhausted every therapy there is, including splints, physical and chiropractic therapy, acupuncture, trigger point injections, surgery, and remain on many medications including anti-depressants and painkillers. I’ve felt isolated and haven’t encountered anyone with a similar problem yet, but figure they must be out there…I’m glad I found this Web site. Maybe there is a future, hope, recognition and validation for all of us who suffer from painful TMJ disorders! I’ve personally found that this is an extremely difficult condition for which to obtain medical support. It is just as difficult to increase other people’s awareness and understanding of these disorders. We’ve been ignored, discredited and disregarded for too long! My own experience has been very discouraging and depressing thus far, but I hope that there are eventual solutions and answers out there for us with TMJ.”

Subsequently—and sadly—we heard from Dianne’s family that she had committed suicide.

Dianne's Family wrote: “…we lost our dear Dianne at the young age of 32,” they wrote. “Her health problems of the past two years had gotten increasingly worse and she was in constant pain that often seemed unbearable. Talking or chewing made the pain worse and it was so hard for her to not speak. The many doctors and dentists she was seeing were making no progress in solving her jaw and muscle problems and did not give her much hope.”

Hopelessness in the presence of intractable pain must be countered by a redoubling of efforts to understand the causes of TMJ diseases and disorders and the support of research to develop safe and effective methods of diagnosis and treatment. The TMJ Association is passionate in its advocacy for sound science to provide the basis for hope and resolution of the problems of patients like Dianne.