Ren, I had TMJ late last year. My dentist diagnosed it. I put it down to stress from my m/c last Sep. I stopped eating anything really chewy, even my morning muesli. I made sure that I ate nice & slow, took really small bites (like a mouse would have taken larger bites) and I would never eat anything where I had to 'open wide' like an apple or a hamburger. It persisted for around a month and is now fine. I didn't have to have a splint or anything like that. It was really painful though so I sympathise, I could have sworn I needed root canal or something it was that painful.

Oh - I also bought a new pillow too, one of those fancy ergonomic type ones. That seemed to help too.

For me it was a one off - I had never had it before and I haven't had it since.