TMJ support group

[Amethyst Star]

Hello everyone. My name's Amethyst and I have TMJ. My jaw doesn't lock up when I open it too far, but it pops horribly after I continue to open my mouth after a certain point. I haven't researched TMJ much, but I'm curious who else has it and how you've done with it. My dentist says there's nothing I can really do unless it starts hurting (and it doesn't hurt), but my dad, who used to work as a dental tech in the military, says I'll probably have to get it corrected soon before it gets worse. I will do my own research, but I wanted to hear from you as well. It probably started at least in high school if not several years before, but it didn't start getting to the point where it would pop all the time until just a few years ago. I had no problem with it at all until about a year ago when my mom asked me about it at the dinner table and ever since I've been self-conscious when others are around. I'm eating such a delicious salad right now, but it's a decision between taking smaller bites to fit it in my mouth or let it pop so I can get all the goodies in one bite. Anyway, who's out there? Anyone?

[Sentaku]

I have TMJ and clench/grind my teeth at night so I wake up and move my jaw and it cracks and pops like a jillion times =P

[Robot_Butler]

My friend used to have this. She would clench her teeth at night when stressed out. It would get so bad, she could barely eat. She sleeps with a mouth guard now, and is much more relaxed. Between the two, it went away. There are a ton of things that can cause it. Try ruling out the behavioral causes, first. I've heard that a lot of it is stress and habit related. Do you chew gum a lot or clench your teeth at night?

[WolfTsunade]

My jaw usually locks up during the night. In the morning, I can't open my mouth all the way or I'd pop very loudly then start hurting. I usually have to unhinge my jaw by pressing underneath my ear, I only do this when I have to eat. I asked my dentist about it and she forgot to give me information about it (I also forgot to remind her ).

[slayer]

I'm not sure if this is the same thing... But after going to the dentist one time to do something (he put this rubber thing in my mouth and pushed hard against my jaw) my jaw would 'pop' whenever I opened it to a certain point. I could push on my right side of my jaw and open it slowly and it wouldn't pop. This was quite a while ago, so it hasn't happened in forever.

[Amethyst Star]

There are a ton of things that can cause it. Try ruling out the behavioral causes, first. I've heard that a lot of it is stress and habit related. Do you chew gum a lot or clench your teeth at night? It's most likely habit-related. I did chew gum when I was younger, but I don't think it was excessively considering I would always have to ask my parents to get it (until around high school when I actually thought to buy it for myself). I think it was probably the way I'd eat which was sort of with a side-to-side motion which I eventually corrected myself, but that's about all I can come up with. I haven't had a problem with grinding my teeth, so I know that's not it. Looking up some of the causes Dr. Wikipedia says: There are many external factors that place undue strain on the TMJ. These include but are not limited to the following: Over-opening the jaw beyond its range for the individual or unusually aggressive or repetitive sliding of the jaw sideways (laterally) or forward (protrusive). These movements may also be due to parafunctional habits or a malalignment of the jaw or dentition. This may be due to: Trauma Repetitive unconscious jaw movements called bruxing. Malalignment of the occlusal surfaces of the teeth due to dental defect or neglect. Jaw thrusting (causing unusual speech and chewing habits). Excessive gum chewing or nail biting. Size of foods eaten. Degenerative joint disease, such as osteoarthritis or organic degeneration of the articular surfaces, recurrent fibrous and/or bony ankylosis, developmental abnormality, or pathologic lesions within the TMJ Myofascial pain dysfunction syndrome Lack of Overbite And An approach to eliminating para-functional habits involves the taking of a detailed history and careful physical examination. The medical history should be designed to reveal duration of illness and symptoms, previous treatment and effects, contributing medical findings, history of facial trauma, and a search for habits that may have produced or enhanced symptoms. Particular attention should be directed in identifying perverse jaw habits, such as clenching or teeth grinding, lip or cheek biting, or positioning of the lower jaw in an edge-to-edge bite. All of the above strain the muscles of mastication (chewing) and results in jaw pain. Palpation of these muscles will cause a painful response. Interesting. In the past I have noticed myself biting my cheek from time to time and I occasionally do stuff like tap my teeth together, sometimes even in time with a song I'm listening to. Funny the things you don't think about. I'm mostly just happy that it doesn't hurt.

[Baron Samedi]

I have been able to heal myself of TMJ. This is how I did it: 1) I found out the source of it. I was clenching my teeth in my sleep. 2) I focused on relaxing my jaw as I went to sleep. I would say to myself: I am going to have pleasant dreams tonight. I am going to have restful sleep. I am going to relax. 3) I massaged my jaw often, gently at first, then stronger later as I undid the knots in the muscles. 4) I did a stretching exercise. Here's how: Slowly open your mouth as wide as you can without pain. Place your hand on your teeth, and gently stretch your jaw out further. One more thing I just remembered: I would also clench my teeth when I was awake if I got stressed out. I learned to increase my awareness. Every time I did this I would say in my head: relax your jaw. relax. My jaw clicked like crazy. It was very uncomfortable. It took me about five months.

[Bayside]

My jaw pops everytime I open my mouth pretty much, or move it slightly to the side. People find it amusing, and it doesn't really bother me, so I just kind of go with it. I know my grandmother had it, and she got surgery for it, and her face stayed somewhat swollen and droopy from then on, it never went quite back to how it was before. So I kind of refuse to get the surgery. My uncle has it, and says he's lived with it his whole life too, and it's not much of a problem.... Mine only hurts after excessive movement or really bad clenching (rolling). Otherwise I don't really notice it anymore. I have noticed that my jaw is really tight when I wake up in the morning though, I'm trying to work on that now.....

[Jeff777]

Went to the dentist about two weeks ago and told her about my TMJ. She massaged my jaw pressed into it in some areas and for some reason now my jaw doesn't pop when I yawn or chew!! It hasn't been like this for as long as I can remember! O___O

[Spartiate]

Hey I have this jaw popping/blocking. It doesn't hurt but it's pretty annoying when I eat. Had it ever since a good punch to the jaw about 5 years ago. I went to a physiotherapist for a while and it helped a bit, seems to be worse when I'm stressed.

[Zhaylin]

Ugh... I sympathize with everyone. I always had a bit of TMJ, but when I got ALL of my teeth pulled back in... 1997, it got a whole lot worse. I can wear upper dentures (and I always do, I even sleep in them) but I never did get the hang of lower dentures. I'm almost constantly "chewing" my lower gums and I chew my cheeks in my sleep. I tell myself to knock it off, but it's a horrible habit to kick. I'm vain enough that I don't do those things when I'm around other people, but I'm by myself (my kids don't count lol) 95% of the time. I don't see myself ever getting lower dentures, so this is a problem I just have to live with. Sometimes the... pain (more of a severe ache) is so bad my head hurts everywhere. Most of the time my jaw refuses to pop but "grinds" instead.

[Clyde Machine]

I get it from time to time. Not too bad, not painful at all (thankfully), but it gets to be a bother when I'm having me some tasty steak.