My jaw pops every time i open my mouth after it's been closed for a while?!
Question: My jaw pops every time i open my mouth after it's been closed for a while?
there is a thresh hold where if you pass a certain point the jaw seems to 'unlock' so to speak. whatever that is, if my mouth has been closed for a while and i open it, it pops pretty loud.
at first it hurt. but now it doesn't hurt at all. i'm starting to get concerned because it is happening at least 3x a day.
Answers:
You have a TMJ or TMD problem and the popping sound is due to a structure called the articular disk dislocating whenever your teeth are together and then going back into joint when you open again. That threshhold you speak about is the point at which the dislocated disk is hopping back into place; once in place you are able to open wide but until that happens you will feel like your jaw is "stuck." As time passes and you do nothing, your TMD will get worse and develop into intermittent locking and eventually permanent locking so that you will not be able to open more than 3 fingers between your front teeth. This is called a closed lock without reduction.
Since it sounds like you had orthodontic treatment, I will venture to guess that it was done by a traditional orthodontist who also had your bicuspids extracted and then your front teeth retracted to close up the spaces. This technique has been shown to cause TMJ disorders, especially in females because it forces the lower jaw back too far and causes anterior displacement of the disk. You will need to find a dentist who knows how to treat TMJ (not all do) and very likely have the extraction spaces opened back up to allow the lower jaw to come forward where it needs to be in order to prevent the disk from dislocating whenever your teeth are together.
functional orthodontist; treated TMJ since 1984
You may have gotten it the habit of biting down really hard when you have the retainer in and now you still do it and your muscles/tendons in the jaw spasm. Try relaxing your jaw every few minutes when you are not going to be speaking for a while. If you find that you are closing your jaws tight and or grinding your back teeth together when you are reading or doing homework etc you may need a dental apliance to help you loosen your grip so to speak.
That happens to me to! Just don't close your teeth together really hard. If you don't grind your teeth, it will not happen (Or at least not as often)
It's called lockjaw. Your dentist can probably correct this.