I was diagnosed with TMJ quite a while ago (temporomandibular joint disorder). It always flares up when I am under a lot of stress. SO STRESS CONTROL IS IMPORTANT!
I clench my teeth and on bad days, I literally have to pry my mouth open in the morning. (I like to talk, so that's not good.) Unfortunately, I have a severe gag reflex and the mouth guard makes me gag.
My HMO sent me to a class and I learned that I should not eat foods that require crunching or heavy chewing during my flareups (Mashed potatos are my friend).
Another thing I do regularly, is to relax my jaw. (It looks a little "off" coz I push the tongue forward and let it rest between my lips. (Sometimes it peeks out. hhi)
I'm scheduled for a planing session to clean the root base on the 28th and 30th of this month. (To capture the insurance money for the year.) I think that will not be fun. But I don't think a routing cleaning should hurt, and I would tell my dentist to take it easy with the tools. You are paying for the service and tell him you are requesting the pain-free method!