[rewgs]

I have mild sleep apnea due to TMJ and went through an odyssey trying out a mandibular adjustment device. It absolutely wrecked my jaw, made my TMJ far worse than it was prior to using it. It also did more than "screw with my teeth a little," it quite literally pushed my bottom teeth forward and destroyed my bite.

The device was fitted by apparently one of the best docs of their kind in SoCal. And yet, after looking into it, my experience seems quite common.

At this point I've just accepted my TMJ and mild sleep apnea. Nothing I've tried has helped at all.

[mancerayder]

I have bruxism myself... What's the link with sleep apnea exactly? The jaw's position pushing the tongue back?

[nanidin]

I’m not sure which way the arrow of causation points - one of the body’s reactions to stopping breathing while unconscious is to grind the jaw.

[rewgs]

That's correct. You stop breathing and respond by clenching your jaw, resulting in TMJ.