An eminectomy is used to treat a wide selection of TMJ disorders. For me it is to stop my jaw from dislocating and getting stuck. The eminence is a boney lump that keeps your jaw in place when opening and closing your mouth. When you open your mouth your lower jaw bone slides down the eminence and then slides up when you close it. In my case when I open my mouth my lower jaw bone slides down the eminence and goes over the bump and then gets stuck the wrong side of the eminence.
The way they are going to ‘correct’ this is by removing the boney lump, the eminence, on both sides as my jaw dislocates bilaterally. This will mean my jaw can still dislocate however it won’t get stuck as the eminence has been taken away, therefore it will just slide in and out of place. It is unknown if the TMJ pain I have will continue after the operation or not. As my muscles will still be over stretched by dislocating but they won’t have the chance to spasm. I believe the pain comes from when the muscles spasm rather than the mechanical movement of the jaw bone.
The guide to an Eminectomy 