Hello,
I am patient looking for advice form someone experience with TMJ.

I am a 24 year old male

I have dry mouth dry mouth syndrome due to medication for depression I
have been on since 14 years old

The dentist told me when I got my teeth fixed and pulled he had never
seen some one so young have this bad of a mouth and even called in the
office works to check it out lol ( he was just out of college )

I have no dental coverage

I have almost all my top teeth however about half of each one is filled
as I could not afford crowns

On the bottom I have from the tooth chart 21,22,23,24,25,26,27 I used
this diagram here
http://www.aboutcosmeticdentistry.com/resources/tooth_chart.html

Each of the bottom teach has been filled.

I have no carries at the moment

I did not get dental work done until about 2 years ago and I had
everyone of my bottom teeth pulled out except what is listed in about a
1 year period ( all at different times ) when I had coverage. I started
to have jaw pain by my ear about 12 months into treatment it has
progressed. On a pain scale of 1-10 7 at night and 4 during the day ( I
had a panorama done at that time and the dentist I had said the TMJ
joint looked fine ) . I can't sleep on my right side due to how bad it
hurts my jaw/ear I don't have any clicking unless I move my mouth
sideways and that hurts to much to do. If I open my mouth more then 2
inches it gives me severe pain by my ear more then normal. When I eat I
am in extreme pain I have no back teeth to chew with on the bottom. I
have full range of motion however it hurts extremely to move my jaw
more the two inches high and when I chew on anything.  I have bad
headaches a lot. I cant take Motrin etc due to ulcers, acetaminophen is
no help at all. I know I need Dental Partials however I cant afford
them right now. Due to not having back teeth on the bottom I have a
overjet. Would Dental Partials solve my pain or is this TMJ and I would
need a splint? I really cannot afford a dentist right now and do not
know if I should go for a exam when I cannot afford a split or Dental
Partials. I have read that vicodin is no good for TMJ due to the long
term nature of the illness and the potential for addiction so I'm
scared. I went to my doctors and he gave me some ultram and vicodin
(ultram for the day and vicodin for bed if I needed it ) however he had
to stop giving me this as he didn't have enough experience he said with
TMJ to treat me long term. My sleep medication I take for insomnia no
longer is working as the pain has gotten so bad. Could I ask for some
suggestions please. Is it pointless to go for a exam because all I can
hope for is medication and if the meds don't help I'm out 100 for the
x-ray and 40 for the consult. Also I doubt that if I do have TMJ a
dentist will treat me with medication because if a splint or Dental
Partials is likely to help then I feel he/she will cease treatment. I
take effexor xr for depression and Ambian for sleep. If you read this
thank you and sorry it is so long I am hoping with some advice I can
try and figure out what I can do.