Why Does My Jaw Hurt?

Why does my jaw hurt?If your jaw clicks when it opens, or you can’t fully open it, or you have pain in your face and trouble chewing, then you’re among the 15% of Americans who have chronic jaw pain.

Your jaw joint is called the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ. The name comes from the jaw’s role to connect your temporal bone in the skull with your mandible bone. Some people experience short-term pain that goes away with ice and over-the-counter medicine. But if you have chronic jaw pain or you can’t open your mouth, you might have a temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and it’s important to see your dentist right away to find relief.

Dr. Michael Cimino, Tomball dentist explains more below about the causes and treatments of jaw pain.

 

Different Kinds of Jaw Pain

Pain in your jaw can feel different depending on what’s going on. In order to best understand what’s causing your pain, try to notice when you specifically feel the pain and what specifically it feels like.

Do you have tightness, soreness, or clicking? Is the pain shooting sharp or a dull ache? Some jaw problems can also cause pain in your face, head, neck or shoulders. Many patients who have chronic migraines don’t realize it’s actually a dysfunction of their bite and TMJ. It’s important to see a dentist and explain what you’re feeling so that they can offer the best treatment options.

 

Causes of Jaw Pain

Your jaw has multiple parts that work together. The temporal bone and mandible bone join together with a piece of cartilage and a shock-absorbing disk. Pain often results from the cartilage being worn down or the disk being dislodged.
Causes of jaw pain include:

  • Arthritis that inflames your joints
  • Genetics that cause your connective tissues (jaw cartilage) to wear down
  • Injury that dislodges the disk or just hurts your jaw
  • Clenching or grinding your teeth that puts stress your jaw and muscles (bruxism)
  • Headache or migraine that radiates pain down into your jaw (jaw pain can also cause headaches and create a bad cycle of pain)
  • Periodontal disease or gum disease
  • TMJ or temporomandibular joint dysfunction

 

Treating Jaw Pain

Only a professional medical provider can diagnose and treat TMD. Fixing your pain and treating it, in the long run, will all depend on what’s exactly causing the problem. If you’re suffering, we would love to help you. We will give you a full examination including watching and listening while you move your jaw and open your mouth. Sometimes dental x-rays and bite analysis are necessary to learn more.

To treat jaw pain, your Tomball dentist might recommend:

  • Physical therapy
  • Avoiding chewing gum
  • A custom night guard or mouthguard
  • Stretching and massaging the muscle
  • Pain medication or anti-inflammatory drugs
  • Orthodontics or restorative dentistry to correct bite alignment
  • Counseling to relieve the stress that might be causing you to clench your teeth
  • Corrective surgery performed by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon

If you have jaw pain or any other oral health questions, make an appointment at Modern Smile Center today! Your oral health is key to taking care of yourself and enjoying your life.

 

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

The post Why Does My Jaw Hurt? appeared first on Modern Smile Center.



from Modern Smile Center https://modernsmilecenter.com/why-does-my-jaw-hurt/
Modern Smile Center
Michael P. Cimino, DDS
25201 Kuykendahl Rd. Ste. 450
Tomball, TX 77375
281-205-4748

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Help! My Child is Terrified of the Dentist

Image
If you’re the parent of a young child, you know their brains are similar to sponges that soak up everything around them—especially in their first five years, which neuroscientists say is when they’ll do the most learning and developing in their entire life. At this formative time, your child may amaze you with what they notice: your facial expressions, the different tones of your voice, and your habits. If your habits include regular dental visits and an excellent oral hygiene routine, they’ll notice and want to emulate you. If you happen to feel anxious about your dental visits, or you groan when you’ve got to floss and brush, they may synchronize and feel your dread. This could lead to dental fears that stick with them for years—potentially a lifetime! Kids Can Be Courageous If you’re feeling guilty right now, go ahead and put that away as it won’t serve you or your little one. Everyone has some room for improvement, and Coastal Pediatric Dentistry® is here to help show you an
Read more

Going for the Gold?

Image
On the left is the older allow, on the right the new one that my lab has chosen to use The cost of a penny weight of pure gold is currently $79.53. The cost of a penny weight of pure palladium is $130.6. It used to be that palladium was added instead of gold to the precious metals often used for pfms, but now laboratories are finding that palladium is no longer affordable. The lab that I am using has just changed the formulation of the metal it's using to one that has more gold than palladium. I really do not mind, but metals with more gold are softer and often easier for a dentist to accidentally polish off delicate margins. It is important when polishing "higher gold" formulations to exert less hand pressure when performing the final polishing of the crown's margins. Other wise there should be no problem with this change. Traditionally labs have chosen alloys with higher gold percentages for optimal esthetics, since alloys with higher concentrations of
Read more

Tongue Ties: What Parents Need to Know

Image
For a long time, people just didn’t seem to know much about tongue ties. In the early years of my practice, few of my patients had ever heard of a tongue tie. When I pointed out that they or their children might be tongue tied, I was often the very first practitioner who’d mentioned it to them. When I told them that a tongue tie might actually be the root cause of their oral myofunctional issues, or even their sleep apnea , I’m sure that some of them thought I was crazy. But in the last few years, things have changed so much! Initially, there was a small increase in the number of patients who were contacting me specifically about tongue ties. Dentists and orthodontists also began reaching out more frequently to discuss the application of myofunctional therapy exercises to tongue tie treatment. But in the last year or so, that little bit of interest has become a surge of awareness. Tongue ties and their effects on health and craniofacial development are finally becoming mainstream.
Read more