Jaw pain / alignment

[Anonymous]

I'm late in my third trimester and for several days now my molars stopped aligning properly (top and bottom don't meet all the way), making chewing a bit difficult. I'm also getting some pain in my left jaw, mostly annoying when I'm trying to sleep on that side, plus occasionally producing a dull headache. I had this alignment problem happen briefly a couple of times early in this pregnancy, and it resolved itself within a half hour or so, but now I'm coming up on a whole week.

My intuition was that it was related to the loosening of ligaments and probably also some stress getting ready for baby's arrival. My OB doesn't feel it is necessarily related to pregnancy, and I'm not sure I have the time or inclination to drag myself to the dentist before the baby comes. Anyone have experience with this? Did it resolve soon after the baby came? I'm afraid I'm going to get tired of being relegated to soft foods...

[Anonymous]

You are right. The laxness you are feeling in the joints is from a hormone called relaxin. Make sure to use both sides of your mouth when you chew. Eat slowly, avoid gum, try to keep your jaw in alignment. Sometimes I hold a finger in front of my nose& mouth (like a shushing finger) and slowly open and close my jaw. It's good practice to make sure you are actually opening in a straight, fluid manner vs. a jaw that pops and swoops sideways (in a J or L motion)