Jaw problems from nasal pillow and headgear?

IHi all,

I've been using a Swift original pillow for over 2 years. Last year I noticed my bite had changed. Now, my jaw is catching every time I open my mouth. I'm really wondering if its caused by the pressure of the nasal pillow on my maxilla. I'm a side sleeper, so there's probably pressure on my jaw that way too.
I've spoken with my dentist's office and they've said I might need a bite plane to correct the jaw misalignment. I wonder if that would be less effective, with this constant pressure of the nasal pillow? Perhaps I should look into a full face mask..........but does that create a pressure on the jaw indirectly too??
Anyone else develop a TMJ-type problem awhile after starting using cpap?
Thanks.

I had TMJ before... so I guess that doesn't count.

IMO... if you go for a FFM... get one with an under chin design. That way the pressure's on the bottom, instead of pushing on your teeth.

Thanks cflame.
May I ask what your symptoms of TMJ are?
Did they come on rather quickly?

These are what I started with:

1.) Jaw joint cracking - kind of like when you crack your knuckles

2.) Extreme headaches - and they happened often
- these aren't sinus headaches, as the location on the pain is different.

A dentist diagnosed mine off xrays... if I remember right the joint had not disintegrated, but was heading towards it.

Quickly compared to what? Keep in mind that I've had that diagnosis for over 10 years.

I have had bruxism/tmj all of my life. When I was a little girl, my Mom would awake me and tell me to quit grinding my teeth. And now years later, I have lost 3 jaw teeth, because of clenching my teeth together and grinding them, literally pushed the teeth out of socket. The jaw joints get really tender and sore, temples get sore. Jaws pop and crack, like cflame said, and sometimes severe headaches. As far as I know, this problem is not aggravated by cpap masks or headgear. Stay away from chewing gum, beef jerky, tough cuts of meat that require a lot of chewing, waxy candy, boot leather and .... well you get the picture. . The excessive chewing makes the problem extremely worse. I had dentists fit me with bite plates, but they were very expensive. And when I had fillings done or anything to alter my teeth, then I needed a new bite plate.. couldn't afford that. So I went to Wal Mart's sporting goods section and bought a sports mouth piece. Works fine for me so far. But there are also newer ones in the medical section now that are designed for this very problem.

Thanks cflame and Jsmythe,

Oh dang.......the hardest part will be giving up the shoe leather!
I'll check out the store for a generic mouthguard. Who knows.....maybe that would be enough to help.
Thanks again.

Keep in mind that the generic ones never worked for me.