Lock jaw and mouth guards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you can talk about "locking your jaw," but the phrase "lockjaw" s.
pecifically refers to tetanus
A dentist would be the best specialist for this. Did a dentist prescribe the mouth guard, and if so, have you readdressed this problem with them?

no one thinks that anymore

I do! I came on here to see who had tetanus and how a mouth guard would help. Or hurt.

I've never heard of anyone having lockjaw in real life and I'm ancient. That's why we have the shots.

I’m OP and I’ve never had tetanus nor do I know what lockjaw caused by tetanus is like. I’m assuming it’s similar to what happens to me when my jaw locks when I wear a mouth guard?

Basically, I can’t get my mouth fully open. I can actually talk to ok, just can’t scream and yell. I can eat and chew ok but because I can’t get my jaw open wide, I have to cut up small enough. It hurts to try to get my mouth open wider. It loosens up a bit daily until I’m back to normal. It’s happened twice and is so uncomfortable and it really makes me paranoid that my jaw will lock forever so I just wont risk it again by wearing the mouth guard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My physical therapist said to avoid mouth guards for my clenching. They said they often make people clench more because they are soft and kind of satisfying to bite, causing more locked jaw in the long term.

I had to practice mouth opening exercises more instead and some manual jaw pt.

See, this makes more sense to me. I really think I need to figure out a way to counter the automatic tensing I do. Did you get a PT referral from your doctor and/or dentist?

Does your specific insurance plan require a referral from a primary care provider?

It does but I can always change insurance if necessary.

[Anonymous]

OP, have you tried physical therapy? There are facial pain specialists out there that could help you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My physical therapist said to avoid mouth guards for my clenching. They said they often make people clench more because they are soft and kind of satisfying to bite, causing more locked jaw in the long term.

I had to practice mouth opening exercises more instead and some manual jaw pt.

See, this makes more sense to me. I really think I need to figure out a way to counter the automatic tensing I do. Did you get a PT referral from your doctor and/or dentist?

My plan doesn't require referrals but a physical therapist I was seeing for something different recommended a person to see who specializes in the mouth//jaw/neck/face.

I don't think many PTs will do the kind of work where they reach into your mouth and manually help you relax those muscles so you may need to call around to different offices. You could ask your primary doctor but in my experience they probably wouldn't know. I would be wary about dental solutions.

My guy moved across country so I can't help with a specific recommendation.

Recommend you ask about a "locked jaw with minimal motion" rather than "lockjaw" which is different.

[Anonymous]

OP I'm the same. Keep wearing it, if you wake in the night, massage the muscle on that side of your jaw and carry on. Eventually you will find this no longer happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I'm the same. Keep wearing it, if you wake in the night, massage the muscle on that side of your jaw and carry on. Eventually you will find this no longer happens.

How long did it take for you to stop happening? Twice is already too much for me!

[Anonymous]

Anyone ever try Accupuncture for this?

[Anonymous]

Look into Botox OP. And please wear your night guard, you'll save yourself thousands in dental work and you'll ultimately be saving your teeth.

[Anonymous]

PT helped immensely with my TMJ pain and locking jaw. I learned a lot of home exercises that I still practice and I think are more effective than my night guard. In fact my jaw hasn’t locked since I had PT. My insurance doesn’t require a referral but my dentist did recommend someone that another patient had spoken highly of. If I needed a referral I would ask my primary care doctor.

I also saw a TMJ specialist who recommended stress reduction and changing my diet to avoid crunchy and chewy foods. I didn’t follow that recommendation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I'm the same. Keep wearing it, if you wake in the night, massage the muscle on that side of your jaw and carry on. Eventually you will find this no longer happens.

How long did it take for you to stop happening? Twice is already too much for me!

At first it was every night. After about 3 weeks it eased up. It still occasionally happens if I'm hot / ill / stressed and clenching like a lunatic.

[Anonymous]

OP, look into Botox. I'm considering it as I clench my teeth, but I am also prone to canker ulcers and the mouthguard seems to make me prone to canker ulcers whenever I use it.

[Anonymous]

I had a very expensive custom mouth guard, I wore it at night and it in theory worked by not “allowing” me to bite down. It was hard and uncomfortable and essentially trained me into reflexively reopening my mouth to a looser state. I still have jaw muscles stress, but nothing like it used to be. The biggest solution for me when it was severe was acupuncture. I went from not being able to open my mouth more than a finger width to three finger widths in one session. YMMV. Now I just use a massager at my ear and along my jaw a few times a week.

[Anonymous]

So, who did you see??

Anonymous wrote:PT helped immensely with my TMJ pain and locking jaw. I learned a lot of home exercises that I still practice and I think are more effective than my night guard. In fact my jaw hasn’t locked since I had PT. My insurance doesn’t require a referral but my dentist did recommend someone that another patient had spoken highly of. If I needed a referral I would ask my primary care doctor.

I also saw a TMJ specialist who recommended stress reduction and changing my diet to avoid crunchy and chewy foods. I didn’t follow that recommendation.