Jaws

Several years ago, when I had my wisdom teeth removed, the orthodontist looked through the x-ray machine--or whatever it was; I could be wrong from all that valium--and told me that I had a bad left jaw. "You may not notice it now," he said, "but one day your jaw will start hurting, and you'll live with that chronic pain for the rest of your life."

"The rest of my life? Won't there be something you can do about it?"

"Well, there's radical surgery--but that's risky, and probably not worth it."

Two weeks ago, I woke up with pain in my left jaw. I'm worried because it hasn't gotten much better. Chewing hurts. I can't touch the top molars to the bottom ones without pain. I wonder, is this where the lifelong chronic pain begins?