Virginia Beach TMJ Dentist

Popping, Clicking and Snapping in the Jaw Joint

Many patients throughout Virginia who suffer from TMJ or TMD experience popping, clicking or snapping in the jaw joint. It is one of the most common symptoms of TMJ and TMD. The popping and clicking sounds many times are surprisingly loud where it may be heard by others when you chew or speak. Not all patients complain of pain in their jaw when the clicking or popping sound is heard and therefore, do not believe that they have a temporomandibular disorder.

The popping and clicking sounds that you hear many times is the displacing of the discs in your jaw joints. The jaw joints are ball and socket type of joints very similar to the hip joints and shoulder joints. The disc, or cartilage, in the joint allows the ball to glide smoothly in and out of the socket. When there is dysfunction in the joint, commonly caused by the muscles of the joint pulling the jaw out of it’s intended path, you may hear popping and clicking. You may also experience pain. If the disc is severely misplaced, your jaw may be limited on how wide it can open or may be locked shut.

A Neuromuscular Dentist can properly test and evaluate you and realign your bite, which also realigns the displaced disc. Once the jaw is realigned and the disc is back in place the clicking and popping sounds in the jaw usually subsides as the muscles holding the disc in place relax, alleviating the jaw, face, head, neck, back, and shoulder pain that resulted.

Dr. Carol F. Morgan, DDS, can help you if you have popping and clicking in your jaw joints associated with TMJ disorders whether you live in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, York County, Williamsburg or any other surrounding city in Hampton Roads.