Overview
- Naomi Smith, 47, was diagnosed in 2025 at Cheltenham General Hospital with temporomandibular joint disorder, condylar damage and severe arthritis in her jaw.
- She can open her mouth only 14mm, lives with constant facial pain and nausea, and relies on a liquid diet after decades of worsening symptoms.
- Smith says she endured years of referrals and misdiagnoses, left her job in 2024, lost about three stone, and was hospitalised in 2019 with a bowel obstruction.
- She is waiting to be added to the NHS surgery list for an arthroscopy and has been told the procedure could take up to four years.
- Her partner has launched a £95,000 GoFundMe for private bilateral jaw replacement, and the local NHS trust says senior consultants are supporting her with specialty appointments planned before year end and contact via PALS.