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Mum's 30-Year Jaw Pain Battle: £95k Surgery Hope
15 Sep
Summary
- Suffering from severe jaw pain for nearly 30 years, a mum now struggles to eat.
- Repeated NHS delays and cancelled appointments have led to fundraising for private surgery.
- She is seeking £95,000 for a bilateral jaw replacement surgery.
A 48-year-old mother from Stroud, Gloucestershire, is fundraising £95,000 for private surgery after nearly three decades of severe jaw pain. Naomi Smith, diagnosed with temporomandibular joint disorder, condylar damage, and severe arthritis, can open her mouth only 14mm wide and subsists on a liquid diet.
Her condition, which began at age 18, has led to significant health deterioration, including weight loss, vomiting, and reliance on approximately 50 tablets daily. Despite numerous NHS appointments since 2015, her health worsened, leading to a bowel blockage and malnutrition in April 2019. She also reported experiencing dismissive attitudes from medical staff.
Naomi left her job as a tutor in 2024 due to her deteriorating health, which now causes facial drooping, hearing loss, and vision problems. After receiving her jaw diagnosis in 2025, she was informed that an NHS arthroscopy could have a wait of up to four years.
Following public attention in November 2025, some appointments, including one for surgery discussion in September 2026, were scheduled. However, she reports persistent cancellations, with around 30 appointments lost in recent months. She is now seeking funds for private bilateral jaw replacement surgery.
