Locking Jaw
Virginia Beach TMJ Dentist
Limited Jaw Movement and Jaw Locking
A very common symptom of temporomandibular disorder (TMD / TMJ) is limited jaw movement or the locking of the jaw. You may feel that your lower jaw is catching when you open or close your mouth. There may be times where you cannot open your mouth wide enough to adequately place food in your mouth. In severe cases, patients puree food or eat only soft foods because of limited jaw movement. In Virginia it is not uncommon that a patient with a locked jaw must move the jaw to one side or the other in order to open the mouth to eat or chew. We often hear that a patient needs to “pop” their jaw in order for the jaw to open fully.
Limited jaw movement or locking jaw is often a result of malocclusion or bad bite. When the jaw is not properly aligned, it may cause problems with the disc in the jaw joint (TMJ). You may hear popping or clicking or have neck pain, upper back pain or headaches.
A Neuromuscular Dentist is trained to test, diagnose and treat patients who suffer from limited jaw movement or locking of the jaw.
Dr. Carol F. Morgan, DDS, can help your symptoms 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.
There is no question that chronic pain very commonly causes symptoms of depression. Nobody likes to be in pain and unfortunately nobody like to be around somebody who suffers from chronic pain. Patients who suffer from depression many times have problems with their families at home. We commonly hear from a patient’s spouse how the depression affects the home life. There is an unfortunate amount of people who suffer from TMJ that also suffer from depression. The depression so commonly is misdiagnosed or dismissed as having no physical cause. There is also scientific evidence that shows that patients with chronic pain, a condition that nearly all TMJ patients can claim, have chemical changes in the brain as a result of the pain.
Headaches and Migraine headaches are a very common symptoms of Temporomandibular (TMJ) Disorder. It is common to hear patients report that they feel like there is a vise on their heads or the pressure is unbearable. Many patients take extraordinary amounts of prescription and over-the-counter medication to include Excedrin®, Tylenol® and Advil™ or Ibuprofen searching for relief. Do not be surprised if “medication therapy” only gives slight relief or only temporary relief.
from migraine or tension headaches, they may be caused by your occlusion (bite). The good news is, that if it is your bite that is the cause of your headaches, it is easy to treat and correct. The pain you have in you head and neck could be due to the fact that your jaw is not resting where it wants to be, leaving your jaw muscles in a state of chronic contraction (spasm).
When your occlusion (bite) is not in its proper Neuromuscular alignment, the muscles of the jaw, face and head are overworked and their normal working cycle is disrupted. The headache pain that this disruption may cause can be excruciating.