do dentists know about jaw problems? can anyone advise?

[thisisyesterday]

since forever I have had a slightly niggly jaw. Sometimes if I open my mouth wide my jaw gets stuck! has only happened a couple of times, but was quite scary.
it also sometimes feels like the top half of my jaw moves slightly sideways and "catches" on something. so I'll open my mouth wide to eat something, and as I bite down I get this intense pain where my jaw has kind of stuck on something and is then forced round it.

does that make sense?

anyway, I have an issue with my wisdom tooth on the problem side, part of it broke off and today the dentist filed it down so that it was comfortable before I go back for an extraction.
since then my jaw has been moving more than usual and it's really, really painful.

I wondered if anyone else has had this and if it's something I should talk to the dentist about before she takes the tooth out or if that is unlikely to be anything to do with it?
if so, who do I talk to about it, if anyone?

I'd speak to your dentist and your GP. It might be more complicated than dental work and the Oral/Facial dept at your hospital might be the best people to look into it.

The hospital took out one of my impacted wisdom teeth as it was too fiddly for the dentist to deal with.

thanks meglet. The dentist has x-rays of the tooth and she says it looks like a straightforward extraction, but then she wasn't looking for jaw issues.

will try and get an appt to speak to the GP before I go back to the dentist

It could be temperomandibular jaw syndrome (TMJ) You have my symapthy, it's unnerving when YOUR JAW LOCKS ISN'T IT!!

Have a look at 'tempromandibular dysfunction' (?spelling) on NHS choices website and see if that sounds familiar.

Sorry about the caps lock there, got a sticky key

A friend of mine had dental work to be done, and during this it was determined that she had a jaw issue (not yours), and as such she was referred to the facial-maxo (sp) team in the hosp who picked it up. She had the work that was going to be done carried out (braces as an adult), but not as dental work but as medical, as it was related to the set of her jaw.

So, if you mention it to your dentist, they may be able to refer themselves.

Good luck x

hmmm interesting, yes it could be a mild case of that. i don't get a lot of pain particularly, only when the jaw does its clicking/moving thing. but I do get ringing in my ears sometimes and earache and some of the other symptoms too

and some of the causes are things i do/have as well.

my jaw probs are as a result of teeth probs that went ignored by a shite NHS dentist
got better private dentist who realised the problem, had max-fax surgery and it stopped getting worse and got a little bit better (But the wear on my jaw from before the teeth related cause was resolved cant be fixed)

some chiropractors specialise in jaws too, my dentist has a chiropractor working out of his building who he refers to

Do you grind your teeth? It can result in TMJ. A dentist can make you a mouth guard sort of thingy like the ones that rugby players wear that will stop you grinding. Then your jaw (might) stop locking - worked for me !

i don't think I grind my teeth! but I do clench them quite often, and they are very uneven

See an osteopath happy to work on the face and jaw - instant relief

DM has had recurrent problems with her jaw and headaches and has been referred by GP to the Maxillofacial clinic at the local hospital.

I think clenching counts too. I clench my teeth when I'm stressed and get the tell tale feeling in my back teeth- maybe that's where fed up to the back teeth comes from? Anyway, good luck finding a solution.

Chiropractors can also help.

thanks all.

i used to suffer from migraines but get them only very rarely now.
interestingly I didn't have any for about 2 years after visiting a cranial osteopath in my teens, so maybe it's time to go back!

will def investigate further though and will talk it through with GP and dentist