Your jaw should open and close smoothly and straight with no bumps, clicks or cracking noises. Clicking, popping and scratchy sounds in the jaw joints are proof positive that the joints have been damaged. That said, most of the time there is no pain associated with the jaw joint sounds so people often assume that nothing much is wrong, but that is not true. Damaged joints can develop painful arthritis and lead to changing facial appearance as the structure of the jaw breaks down.
If you experience jaw noises or other problems like difficulty opening your mouth please click here to learn about treatment options or call us today at (203) 883-4433.
Clenching and grinding are from an imbalanced bite. Long term clenching and grinding builds up pressure in the jaw joint. The MOST important thing is to control the excessive force from clenching or grinding that both causes and worsens the damage.
The jaw joint can be damaged from trauma like a blow to the face. Even minor blows such as getting hit with a soccer ball, a whip lash injury from a fall or from a motor vehicle accident can cause damage – The results of these injuries might not show up until years later.
Some Educational Movies
The disc between the moving bones is ‘hour glass’ shaped and moves smoothly along with the jaw bone as it moves back and forth when it opens and closes. Look at the position and size of the disc and how it stays between the bones during movement. 12:40 this is video content
When the joint is damaged the disc is pulled from between the bones. Notice how it looks smaller and flatter and has been pulled out from between the bones (to the right). It is only between the bones when the jaw moves open and forward (to the right in the movie). As the disc gets between the bones it makes the bump or click or pop sounds. Treatment is important at this stage so it does not get worse.
If your jaw used to bump or pop or click and that stops, it means that the damage has probably worsened. Notice in the movie that the disc is pulled way forward (to the right) Even when the jaw bone moves forward, the disc never gets between the bones. It is much worse and this joint can develop arthritis so treatment is really important here.
I’ve been a patient of Dental Care of Stamford for 8 years, not only myself, but my wife as well and our four children. All I can say is that we are very big fans of Dr. Simon and Dr. Eva and the whole team here. I just completed a program of TMJ treatment. I must say that Dr. Simon’s excellent treatment and the professional care was tremendous and I’m very happy with my new bite. I’m very happy to recommend to anybody who is looking for a good dentist for adults or for children in the area and especially for help with their bite. Dr. Simon and his team are extraordinary.
I had Invisalign for about a year which straightened out my teeth but I was still having issues with jaw pain and I was getting a lot of headaches and migraines. So Dr.Simon and I talked about reshaping my bite. My mouth was crooked inside, you couldn’t see it, but I was only biting down on the right side. Dr. Simon and I went over the whole plan. We went forward and immediately my mouth started to feel better. I was clenching my teeth less. I don’t seem to be grinding my teeth now. My teeth meet on both sides at the same time and really my headaches seem to have gone away.
(203) 883-4431