canine tmj dysfunction

KATIE'S STORY PART II: TMJ Progress and Recovery
A photo gallery showing Katie's expanded ability to open her jaw as of April 1, 2010

Naturally, I chose to begin Katie's "TMJ/Jaw" gallery with my favourite photo, Katie smiling! with her mouth and her eyes
A happy contrast from the sad girl she was not long ago with a constantly closed mouth and such sad eyes
(see photo on the right for comparison of how she looked when she arrived)

Yes, this really is the same dog, only 6 weeks after her arrival, and already looks like a brand new girl
PHOTOS COURTESY OF OUTLOOK PHOTOGRAPHY

A PICTURE IS TRULY WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS WHEN YOU SEE A FROWN TURN UPSIDE DOWN

THESE PHOTOS ARE PRIMARILY TO SHOW HOW WELL KATIE HAS PROGRESSED WITH HER ABILITY TO OPEN HER MOUTH. ONLY A FEW WEEKS AGO SHE WAS ONLY ABLE TO OPEN HER JAW 4cm	Photos April 1, 2010
	When Katie arrived on Feb 13th, she was only able to pick up this ball using her front teeth and just tips of the ball edges. Unfortunately we did not obtain photos of this back then to show the contrast of how well she now freely grabs a full ball in her mouth
	Katie was not previously able to achieve a full pant at rest nor during exercise, resulting in having to nose breath or literally foam at the mouth in an effort to cool down during casual walks etc. This photo shows our happy girl now able to almost fully pant.
	Such a show off now, can even pant with a ball in her mouth
	Katie was previously unable to release any toys from her mouth when she did manage to pick them up, due to her inability to open her jaw far enough to drop things. She is now able to freely release most toys (we couldn't get a photo of her releasing balls because she prefers to play "catch me" after dropping them :o), Katie also now catches balls in mid air (mischievously stealing Dino's ball when we throw it to him :o) and actually will catch a toy, toss it up into the air out of her mouth and catch it again.
	Easily now achieving full ball in her mouth with ease.

	We have gently reminded Katie that her goals may be just a tad unrealistic if she expects to catch a ball this large :o)
You've come a long way baby!	Katie is getting tired of having her picture taken and wishes those humans would just throw the ball already Sometimes, the best medicine is unconditional love Something unrelated to her jaw but worth mentioning on a personal note, Katie was very camera shy when she first arrived, always turning her head away or attempting to hide when the camera came out. Now, as you can see, she faces the world head on, smiling and ready for anything.