A colourful blip on a dull day

Olive Oil on water with a colourful scarf in the background.

I went to the dentist today to see the MRI of my head. I took Robin and was glad I did as there was a lot to take in.
The reason my disc has slipped is due to degradation of the mandibular condyle. This is the protuberance at the end of the lower jaw bone which rotates in a socket  in your skull as you move your jaw. The disc sits between the condyle and the socket. As my bone has worn away the disc has slipped out of place and is probably what is stopping my mouth opening widely (supposition as you can’t see the disc on the MRI).
The more worrying thing is the bone loss. At this stage we do not know if it has been happening for years (due to me holding a lot of tension in my jaw) or is a recent thing. The degradation is much worse on the right hand side but curiously the pain I get is on the left hand side.
So, next steps. See a maxillofacial specialist who sees more of these problems (appointment booked for two weeks time) and can hopefully provide more detail on possible ways forward.
See the doctor and get a bone density scan in case this is a wider problem than just the jaw (no reason to think it is but better safe than sorry)
Keep wearing the mouth guard at night as that is stopping me from clenching my jaw and making the situation worse.
Come to terms with the fact I will never eat nuts or any other hard food again. I do mean HARD food, everything that “gives” is fine.
Give thanks that I can still drink coffee and wine and eat chocolate. My three passions!
NB. It is possible to have surgery and replace the jaw joint but this is not a common operation in the UK so is not to be entered into lightly. I will keep you all posted after I have seen the specialist.