Her history:
tonsillectomy in 2008
one week post op developed vertigo, dizziness
continuous right otalgia
six months post op developed right weakness and
was admitted to hospital

Treatment to date:
CT head-NAD
MRI brain-NAD
Lumbar puncture-NAD
MRI scan inner ear-NAD
Neurologist-psychosomatic cause and?
MS or small posterior stroke, then diagnosed with conversion disorder.
No physical cause for right otalgia
Prescribed Stemetil
Epley’s manœuvre -no effect

Current Medication:
Tramadol
Metoclopramide
Co-dydramol
Amitriptyline

Treatment by Patrick Grossmann:
Patient fitted with a lower anterior repositioning splint (MARA) worn 24/7 for 8 weeks except for cleaning and dental hygiene.
Pre-treatment maximum mouth opening = 31 mm
Post-treatment maximum mouth opening = 49 mm

It all started very suddenly in March 2011, practically over night I developed an intense headache, dizziness and heavy fatigue. This was followed a few weeks later by a constant feeling of full ears. The fewer hours of sleep I had, the more my mental state suffered. I began to feel anxious and stressed to the point that both my home and work life were beginning to deteriorate.

I approached my GP who was unable to diagnose the issue. I saw over 20 other healthcare professionals – from cardiologists and Neuro-otologists to Neurologists and Endocrinologists about the problem. There was nothing abnormal in any blood tests or scans taken. Everyone said the same thing; I was medically fine. I was even told it was in my mind and eventually I was left to deal with the issues alone.

Of my own volition, I decided to approach an orthodontist believing it might be an issue with my teeth. Gradually, through a process of elimination and having self-diagnosed from entering my symptoms into a search engine on the Internet, Patrick’s name appeared as one of the UK’s leading practitioners in TMJD.

I met with Patrick at his clinic in April 2012 - over a year after my symptoms had begun. I was asked to fill out a questionnaire and from my description of the symptoms Patrick diagnosed possible TMJD. An MRI scan confirmed that this was the case. Patrick said it possibly stemmed from previous orthodontic treatment and/or a bicycle accident.

Patrick’s confidence in my diagnosis alone contributed dramatically to the immediate lift of my stress and anxiety. He took impressions of my teeth and a mouth splint was fitted, which I wore each night. From the first night I experienced immediate pain relief and the fullness in my ears started to dissipate.

Four months later, all symptoms were still improving and Patrick took another set of impressions of my teeth – this time for a day splint, which I wore in addition to the night splint.

Another four months went by and the maximum benefits of the splint therapy had been achieved, with all symptoms having improved further. Patrick recommended surgery on the jaw joints to achieve complete recovery and in January 2013 I had TMJ surgery.

In total, I had a nine-month recovery period after surgery. After two weeks I was back at work part time and after four weeks full time. After three months I was 90% recovered and after nine months 100% recovered, with all of the original symptoms completely gone..

TMJD had taken me from being an energised, full time athlete to a constantly drained and depressed zombie-like state that no medical professional could help or give me answers to. Patrick turned this around and gave me my life back. Had the medical professionals I encountered been aware of TMJD, I would not have had anywhere near the amount of stress and the problem would have been resolved in far less time.

Chris Cullen, Local Authority Project Manager, 28 years old.

I met Patrick in the early nineties at a practice in Clapham where we both were working at the time.

Years ago, I had a fall and banged my jaw; this was ten years before I even noticed any real symptoms. Years later I developed a really bad clicking jaw and the worstproblem was a severe pain in my shoulders like a hot knife being driven between my shoulder blades.

Around 1993/4, realising it might be related to my jaw, I went to one of the dentists at the surgery who suggested I talk to Patrick. He said I needed a splint and as I thought I had nothing to lose but everything to gain, I went for it. Patrick made me the splint and within four hours of putting it in I felt pain relief.

I realised that it was a long-term problem and that I could not stay in the splint forever so I went on to have scans in order to confirm what the problem was. The treatment of TMJ was all very new at that time and so I had to be referred to amaxillofacial specialist to be allowed facial scans on NHS. After I had the scans, a panel of around 20 specialists who were in the room were asked if they could see anything wrong with the jaw joints, they all said no. The Maxillofacial specialist then prescribed me anti-depressants for the problem.

Fortunately, Patrick had tutored me to read the MRI scans prior to my appointment and I had been told that this was likely to happen. I asked if I could take the scansaway with me. In fact, on closer inspection, both discs within the joints were displaced. I ended up with surgery on both joints to reposition the discs.As a result, there was a gap between both sets of teeth that then had to be re-set with orthodontic work by Patrick.

I finished all treatment thirteen and a half years ago and I have had no more pain or further treatment since. I believe in Patricks work to the extent that I now have patients whom I refer to him.

Hayley Azopardi - Dental Therapist and Hygienist

The conductor reveals his excitement at the prospect of two big outdoor concerts taking place on his farm

My life has undergone a revolution. For 20 years I've struggled with flight-induced deafness - a hazard for a conductor who travels. Usually I ask for 24 hours'grace between landing and taking a rehearsal to give my ears a chance to recover, but it' not always possible. I went to Athens recently and had to pick up the baton within hours of touching down. I couldn't understand why the orchestra were playing so limply. I harried them to hell trying to get a decent sound out of them. Next morning (hearing normalised) they nearly blew my ears off! "Why are you guys playing so hard?"I asked them. "Because you told us to, maestro!…"

I was bemoaning my problem to an old friend, Patrick Grossmann, a specialist orthodontist. He lit up and said: "I can fix it, no problem.” He made me a brace to wear on flights that works by keeping the airways to the ears open so the pressure equalises. It’s worked a miracle — I’ve just skipped off a flight, ears clear.

This is a big week for me: I’m hosting two outdoor concerts at my farm in Somerset next weekend and there’s a mountain of things to do. The week started with a very long drive back from a camping holiday in France with the kids. We got home near midnight. As I was heaving sleeping children into the house I spotted the gleam of white canvas in the moonlight. A huge stage had landed like a UFO in my fields. It had been put up while we were away and I felt lifted by a wave of elation. These concerts fulfil a dream for me. It’s not that playing at Carnegie Hall or the South Bank isn’t thrilling — it is — but a lot of people wouldn’t dream of going to a concert hall. That is tragic because so many are missing out on so much amazing music. What blows my head off with excitement is having a world-class symphony orchestra blazing across my fields.

Saturday night’s programme features Holst’s The Planetswith improvised ambient responses to each planet. Sunday night is Vivaldi’s Four Seasonswith the young Russian-born virtuoso Alexander Sitkovetsky. The Planetsis one of the most fantasy-rich pieces yet written, and so we came up with the idea of having contemporary musicians “respond” to each one; ambient improvisations from across the parkland that will feature material sampled from the orchestral planet just performed, giving the audience a chance to re-engage with Holst’s material through a refracted lens.The Four Seasonsis the mainstay of a programme all about painting with sound, alongside Haydn’s Morning, Noonand Nightsymphonies. Sitkovetsky has not played in a field before. But with true Russian insight he’s already said he’s not bringing his wellies — because it’s going to be a perfect evening.

On Tuesday I bump into Angela, who cleans for us. She’s never been to a concert hall in her life and she’s coming both nights with her family. We have a “pay what you can” scheme for the locals and the village really seems to have adopted the festival. To keep the budget down villagers are “hosting” musicians. But we’ve run out of hosts and need a room for Will Gregory, from Goldfrapp, who’s performing with us on Saturday. We wonder if the caravan my wife did up will do...