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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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"Elastic Band Snapping" Sound When Moving Jaw

I have a problem with my jaw I ve never had before. When I open it as far as I need, say, to put a fork in my mouth to eat, it clicks, just between the edge of my mouth and ear . It sounds a bit like an elastic band breaking. It only started today about halfway done my lunch. When I went to Guidance (I was at school), the lady I talked to said I should tell my mom to get it checked. What exactly is it? I am only 14 years old, turned so on January the 2nd. I have only had cavities once. I got 8 at the same time, but they were all baby teeth and I ve lost them by now. I ve never done anything to my jaw that I know of directly. My last visit to the dentist was in March(this month). I got my teeth cleaned and checked, as well as a flouride treatment. I also am known to grind my teeth at night, and used to have headgear. My orthodontist decided my condition was not too bad so I didn t get braces.
Sat, 13 Oct 2012
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Dentist, Orthodontics 's  Response
hi
the grinding of teeth during sleep is due to loss of or absence of canine guidance in once mouth.
the result is the unchecked movement of condyle in the jaw joint.
you are too little to understand the exact terminology, but all i can guide you to is to see a orthodontist and get a custom made night guard.
ask your dentist to check if you are having canine guided occlusion or not and if not then a orthodontist or a prosthodontist can give you canine guided occlusion.
take care
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Dentist Dr. Geoffrey Ward's  Response
Hello and thank you for your question.
In your head you have a groove in the skull and a rounded joint on the jaw, between these two bones that make of the temporal mandibular joint is a cartilage disc. This disk is attached by muscles and elastic ligaments. when you open your jaw it rotates then slides down and forward, when this happens the disc slides back. When you close it goes back forward. Sometimes these ligaments become loose and there is a lag in the sliding of the disc.
A closing click arises during closing of the jaw and is caused by the condyle (the rounded part of your jaw joint) rapidly repositioning posteriorly (towards the back), displacing the disc anteriorly (towards the front) or medially (towards the side). An opening click arises in the opposite of what was just said.

If you get a line of 100 people 40-60 of these people will have clicking, cracking or popping in their jaws without any issues.

Hope this helps give you comfort.

Best wishes and good health

Dr. Ward
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Dentist Dr. Neha Sumra's  Response
Hello
Welcome to HCM
I would like to tell you that your problem can be due to two reasons:-
-Temporomandibular Joint Disorder :-, is an umbrella term covering acute or chronic pain, especially in the muscles of mastication and/or inflammation of the temporomandibular joint, which connects the mandible to the skull. The primary cause is muscular hyper- or parafunction, as in the case of bruxism, with secondary effects on the oral musculoskeletal system, like various types of displacement of the disc in the temporomandibular joint.Its common problem.
-You might be having improper occlusion because of absence of canine guidance.
For getting proper treatment you need to go for proper investigation.
Consult your nearest dentist for that.

Take care
Regards
Dr.Neha
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  User's Response
Hi
Greetings from health care magic
When the joints move, you may hear sounds, such as clicking, grating, and/or popping. Others may also be able to hear the sounds. Clicking and popping are common. This means the disc may be in an abnormal position. Sometimes no treatment is needed if the sounds give you no pain.
Thank you
Dentist, Endodontics Dr. Manisha Rao's  Response
Hi, your habit of Bruxism may have lead to the TMJ problem. Please take muscle relaxant tablets like Tizapam, hot fermantation after application of muscle relaxant gels may also help. Please consult you dentist again. You may need a TMJ appliance which is known to correct such problems. Take care!
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Dentist Dr. Srividya Rao Vasista's  Response
hHi There,
The reason for your problem could be stress/psychological disturbance. Habits like nail biting & excessive gum chewing & Bruxism are also indicative of stress. This can lead to MPDS(Myo facial pain disorder syndrome) later on.
Please get the problem looked into ASAP. Meanwhile limit opening of the jaw to its maximum. Support the jaw while yawning etc. Limit gum chewing to a max of 15min at a time.
Thanks & take care
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"Elastic Band Snapping" Sound When Moving Jaw

hi the grinding of teeth during sleep is due to loss of or absence of canine guidance in once mouth. the result is the unchecked movement of condyle in the jaw joint. you are too little to understand the exact terminology, but all i can guide you to is to see a orthodontist and get a custom made night guard. ask your dentist to check if you are having canine guided occlusion or not and if not then a orthodontist or a prosthodontist can give you canine guided occlusion. take care