Mouth prop (bite-block): Friend or Foe?

I don't like needing to have a bite block but have to use it on some things or my jaw muscles act up for days.

I hadn't ever used one of these until yesterday when I had a root canal done. I expected to HATE it because I hate things in my mouth. When they put the block in I freaked out and spat it out because it was way too far back in my mouth. So they moved it forward a lot... then I told them it was okay to move it further back and we found a happy medium. Once it had been in my mouth for a minute or so I was used to the feel of it and it was much easier than having the dentist tell me to open wider every five minutes... usually I have a lot of trouble keeping my mouth open wide enough for long enough for the poor dentist to do their job.

bite blocks are like many things Works great in some hands and with some patients while horrible for some to use.

I find that a bite block helps me, in that I don't have as many problems with the TMJ Dysfunction afterwards, I also have a hard time holding my mouth open for long enough, sometimes it's because I "zone out" and go completely blank, and at other times my jaw just isn't strong enough.

I am not shure about the Mouth Prop (Bite Block) idea I may find it makes me feel a loss of control as I would be unable to close my mouth, although I can appreciate how it may help, particularly if a patient is undergoing a particularly long procedure where they have to keep their mouth open for a long time. If you were to read my journal I remember when I began my journey to overcoming my dental phobia in 1991, when I first saw Miss J.L Potter, how patient she was with me reassuring me and coaxing/encouraging me to open my mouth a little wider - bear in mind this was the first time I had seen a dentist for about 6/7 years. I haven't had any problems with opening my mouth during dental treatment. Fortunately I haven't had to undergoe any particularly long sessions of treatment, the longest appointment I have had so far was for about 45 minutes to have a wisdom tooth extracted and a scale and polish. My dentist Mrs Bekou - Betts started by giving me LA on the wisdom tooth to be extracted, then carried out the scale and polish whilst I was 'numbing up' then after finishing the scale and polish extracted the wisdom tooth. There were 'breaks' during the treatment so I could 'rest' close my mouth.