Why does my jaw click / lock?

Question

My jaw clicks in various places on both sides when I open my mouth wide. This only happens when my jaw is in a natural position, and does not happen when I open and close my jaw while the lower part of my jaw is pushed far forward.
This has happened for years, and is occasionally sore (like today after being at the dentist). My doctor once told me that I have mild arthritis in my jaw, but I dismissed/ignored this the problem wasn't that bad. Another problem is my jaw can sometimes lock and I am unable to open it wide.

I'd appreciate any help/advice on what I can do.

Answer 1

It seems to me that you may be suffering from temporomandibular joint dysfunction. This is often caused by acute or chronic inflammation of the joint eg in rheumatoind arthritis. There are many other causes of this condition, including psychiatric, dentistry and even surgical causes, but the symptoms you have described including your past history suggests an arthritic origin.

You mention that you have had this problem for years now, and your doctor actually told you you have mild arthritis. one of the many things you can do now is to relief your soreness or pain, this can be done through using medications such as NSAIDS, examples would be paracetamol or ibuprofen. these can be bought easily at ur nearby pharmacy.

Bear in mind that is just symptomatic control. You have to find out what exactly is causing the TMJ dysfunction as well. As ur doctor mentioned, it could be an arthritic cause, perhaps the articulation of the TMJ has been degenerated over the years, thus behaviour modification is necessary to prevent such a condition from recurring, i will talk about that later.

Other causes include bruxism, where you unconciously clench your teeth, often whilst u sleep, but also during the day when you do normal activities. Often ur teeth are ground and some degree of erosion will be present, ultimately culminating in a loss of vertical height in the closure of your mouth. as such, the overall relationship between the muscles of mastication, buccal cavity and teeth is not in equilibrium. thus small forces can be magnified at the joint to produce large forces which can cause the dysfunction. If the occlusal surfaces of the teeth have been damaged though dentistry or accidental trauma, the proper occlusion must be restored through modification of the occlusal surfaces of the teeth.

It is suggested that before the attending doctor commences any plan or approach utilizing medications or surgery a thorough search for inciting para-functional jaw habits must be performed. Correction of any discrepancies from normal can then be the primary goal.

An approach to eliminating para-functional habits involves the taking of a detailed history and careful physical examination. The medical history should be designed to reveal duration of illness and symptoms, previous treatment and effects, contributing medical findings, history of facial trauma and a search for habits that may have produced or enhanced symptoms. Particular attention should be directed in identifying perverse jaw habits such as clenching or teeth grinding, lip or cheek biting, or positioning of the lower jaw in an edge to edge bite. All of the above puts strain of the muscles of mastication (chewing) and resultant jaw pain. Palpation of these muscles will cause a painful response.

Treatment is oriented to eliminating oral habits, physical therapy to the masticatory muscles and alleviating bad posture of the head and neck. A flat plane full coverage oral appliance, non-repositioning, often is helpful to control bruxism and take stress off the temporomandibular joint. Mandibular Repositioning Devices can be worn short term to help alleviate symptoms related to painful clicking when opening the mouth wide but 24 hour wear for long term may lead to changes in the position of the teeth which can complicate treatment. A typical long term permanent treatment (if the device is proven to work especially well for the situation) would be to convert the device to a flat plane bite plate fully covering either the upper or lower teeth and to be used only at night. Full mouth reconstruction, or building up of teeth to achieve the proper bite relation is not supported by strong evidence based studies.

Hope this helps. :D

Answer 2

After having my jaw out of place for 45 min. at the dentist many years ago I acquired the same problem.

A Dr. will probably tell you it is TMJ (google it)
Tempro-mandibular disorder or disease. It
means your jaw clicks in and out.and hurts .
Close your mouth, hold your palms on each jaw bone, slowly open and close your mouth, feel the bad one pop in and out?

I am now in my Arthritis years -I'm a very mature lady. This last year the arthritis began in my right upper jaw hinge. I rub aspircream
on the painful area and it helps some.

Mine has not gotten worse with years, it is occasionally painful. When it is bad it sleep with a night guard on ($20.00 at walmart) or$300.00 at the dentist. This keeps you from night grinding. I also take an excedrin at night to sleep better and discourage night grinding. You will know if you are doing it if the jaw problems are worse in the mornings. Try it!!!

Answer 3

You have TMJ (Tempomandibular Joint Dysfunction) - also known as arthritis of the jaw joint. The dentist was right. You should avoid chewing gum and also check in with someone who is versed in this field. Dentists are to a degree but this is really NOT a dental problem, its one of arthritis and that does not fall into the field of dentistry. If you have times when you cannot open your mouth wide, then of course the problem is increasing as you age. You may need a mouth spint (worn at night). Check for information on the web and also aks your dentist again. this is a common problem but can cause much pain and get much worse over time.

Answer 4

You need to see an orthodontist, they can diagnose your problem and help you. I know when I was getting fitted for my liners, they heard my jaw click, but it only happens once in awhile, but they said it could be lock jaw or something serious if it did that all the time. Go for consultation anyway. It could be caused by several things. Only a professional will know.

Answer 5

The same thing always used to happen to me. But it went away when I got braces, but I don't know if that's actually the reason that it stopped. My dad also had the same problem, and he had to get a heating pad for his jaw when it was sore. You can ask your doctor about it and ask if there are any jaw exercises you can do to help.

Answer 6

Sounds like TMJD or TMD. I have it and my advice is to get checked out by a proper dentist, who may refer you to an oral surgeon. I ignored this problem for a long time, and now I am paying for it. I am now unable to open my mouth but just a little bit. I am getting my nightguard in a week. Treatment for this is not cheap, the guard is 700. Also, more than likely your insurance will not cover anything you need if you have TMJD. Good Luck, and get checked!

Answer 7

This is called TMJ, a lot of people have it. I have it. There are special dentists for this, but they are pricey. The general rule is if it gets too painful then go to the docter. But if you can live with it, errr, live with it.

Answer 8

Sounds like TMJ. You may want to talk with your dentist for a full exam. I have it and yes, it really hurts sometimes.

Answer 9

Sounds like TMJ to me, dear.
http://health.yahoo.com/ency/healthwise/hw209469

Answer 10

Get a checkup for TMJ.

http://www.tmj.org/