Charlie Currier - Seattle, WA
My name is Charlie Currier and I want to take a second to express my sincere appreciation to Dr Yanney and his amazing staff. In addition, I would like to share my experience of how I ended up with TMJ and how Dr Yanney has assisted throughout the years.
My jaw problems began playing both Middle School and High School football where my jaw would lock (closed) whenever I made heavy contact with another player. At the time, I knew something wasn’t completely right; however, I just lived with it as I knew football would eventually end and all would return to normal. A couple years passed and my jaw problems returned when it was determined I needed braces. In order to get braces I needed 8 teeth pulled (4 Wisdom, 4 Bicuspids) to allow my teeth to move to their proper locations. Immediately after my teeth were pulled…my jaw problems returned where I endured locking of the jaw and constant popping whenever I would talk and/or any movement of the jaw. After several years of seeing specialist and dentists I eventually came to terms that I would just "live with it" and somehow manage the pain that came along with TMJ. However, everything changed in the summer of 2009 when I accidentally bumped my jaw...tearing both TMJ joints. In lieu of that my jaw was partially; dislocated closed, only allowing it to open about 1inch or less.
I immediately searched the internet and came across a local TMJ specialist who focused primarily on TMJ. After seeing Dr Jason Pehling for a month it was determined that I clearly needed an MRI to see exactly what was going on as I was not making any progress. Unfortunately, the MRI results were not good as it indicated that I needed a “Bilateral Disc Plication Procedure” which meant surgery. This was good news and bad news. Bad news was obviously surgery; however, the good news was I finally had a roadmap to normalcy and it brought me to Dr James Yanney!!!
Dr Yanney was simply amazing! From the moment I met Dr Yanney and his staff I knew I was in great hands; however, I must admit I was somewhat nervous as I'd ALWAYS been really healthy (and never had surgery before). My nerves quickly dissipated as Dr Yanney walked me through every-step and set realistic expectations from the start! Since May of 2009 I’ve had 7 surgeries ALL of which HAVE been successful; however, unfortunate accidents such as being hit by a drunk driver, surfing, ect have all contributed to each one of my setback backs. Despite each setback…Dr Yanney has been with me every step of the way showing compassion, sympathy, guidance and assurance that things will improve! Being somewhat young and extremely active it’s been VERY hard to manage my recovery (from surgery)…allowing the necessary time to heal; yet, it is crucial to the success of living a life FREE of TMJ!
Also, not only is Dr Yanney GREAT but his staff is simply the best. I personally would like to thank Sandy, Cindy, Jenna and Vicki for everything as well! You will NEVER find a nicer group of people then you will with these individuals!
In the end, I owe Dr Yanney and HUGE THANK YOU! I don’t know where I would be without you. A lot of people don’t understand the complexities of TMJ and how extremely painful it truly is. Thankfully I just happened to be connected to the one person in the world who does and is simply the BEST at correcting it!
Thanks,
Charlie Currier