At about a month after surgery, my surgeon asked if I was working on opening my jaws......I said that I didn't know anything about that, and he said, well you'd better get busy (as if I should have known that!!) He ordered the Therabyte, and I used it faithfully. I feel that it saved my ability to open my mouth. I still stretch and exercise my mouth many times a day, and I even use my hand to pull my lower jaw downward to force it open a bit more than it wants to open. If I had not done this, I would have been restricted forever....and if I don't keep doing it, it tightens up some.....not like after surgery, but some. I even have found that massaging that strip of tissue that holds your jaw together did some good.....at least I imagined that it did. I used my thumb, since it was easier to get it back there, and I warmed it in some warm water.....helped to soften and stretch that tissue, I felt.

He also told me....sorta off-handedly.....that I'd better get busy massaging my neck (again, as if I should have known to do that...scares me to think he might have forgotten to mention that.) now my neck is as soft and pliable as the other side, though there is less tissue there, and I can feel every blood vessel and tendon. I hope I don't run into a sticker bush, or I'll bleed to death! Seriously, I got some lovely cream, and I really "worked it over" like he told me to do, and I still give it a going-over every night when I put "stuff" on my face for night-time.

I found that the Therabyte forced me to work harder than I could have done with the depressors. It is mucho expensive, though, so if insurance won't pay for it, you might consider another method.

If you need it, you should have it, regardless of the price. Don't settle for compromised bite opening unnecessarily!!