Hello
about 2/3 weeks ago i had a filling in my lower right hand side tooth. i had injections in my gum prior to the filling. after leaving the dentist with a numb mouth i waited several hours before my mouth defrosted. In the following couple of days to come i noticed my tooth was super sensitive and my jaw didnt seem right. I couldnt open my mouth very wide and i was struggling to get food into my mouth, chewing made my jaw very uncomfortable . I cant bite into an apple or eat corn on the cob . I cant bring my teeth together when cleaning them . My tooth is fine the problem is my jaw .its like by bottom jaw has moved really weird oh and i can no longer roll my tongue under my top lip. Im not in any great pain just stiffness of jaw and restricted movement. I went back the dentist he checked me over and said there was no infection he could feel the restriction in my jaw . he mentioned something called sticky jaw? and he told me to do some facial exercises and if it didnt get any better i was to return in 2 weeks.
My jaw was fine before the dental treatment and i have never had any problems with my jaw before.
Anybody know whats happening with my jaw ?
Dawn
have you tried doing mild jaw excercises just back and forth and up and down? the jaw will stiffen up when you have your mouth has been opened for a long period of time. you did just have it done so i would be patient and give it a chance to go back to normal. could you be clenching or grinding when you sleep?
Hi
Yes I have been doing exercises as advised. It's been years since I had a filling but don't ever remember anything like this
Thanks for reply
hi sounds like what we call locked jaw which can easily happen during a dentist visit. if you google locked jaw i think it may be very helpful as to how to deal with it, one suggestion is to actually rest it for a while. numerous websites for this, take a look.
Hi dawn, I've been having the exact same jaw problem after a filling, can I ask how your problem has resulted now? Did the jaw stiffness go away on it's own?
Hi Jen
It's been a while now I did go back dentist and he referred me to hospital where they examined and measured my jaw my open mouth measurement was just short of what it should be . I was advised to do some exercises and told it would get better on it's own. It is loads better now but I still struggle to open my mouth wide and sometimes my jaw clicks wen eating . The hospital said my jaw had slipped whilst having treatment or because my mouth was open so long for treatment it went into spasm but would get better with on it's own in time .Didnt fill me with confidence to go back dentist as I already have a fear .
Hi,
Thanks so much for the reply I really appreciate it. I see, I'm glad that it got better for you. I may ask my dentist to refer me then as the antibiotics I'm not aren't doing anything. Did you find that some days it eased up and that others it seized and tightened up again? Or was it constantly stiff all the while?
Also, how long did it take to return to normal? And what exercises did they give you a do?
Thanks
Hi Jen
I just wonder why your dentist gave you antibiotics is an infection that's causing your problem?
The exercises were simply stretching my jaw by opening my mouth as wide as I could slowly , every hour or so. The hospital gave me a cardboard measure that I could use to measure my open mouth can't remember exactly wat the measurement was, but sure if you google it you will find answer. My jaw is stiff on occasion but it's more clicky now rather than stiff. The stiffness is caused by the injection into the gum it causes the muscle in the jaw to go into spasm. Well that's what the hospital said.i think you need to rule out infection before you do anything else. How long has it been since the filling? Think it's been about 4/5 months for me now. Mine is bearable but like I say I now have colicky jaw and just sometimes my bite is affected .
My dentist said she didn't know what the problem was but she was going to treat it as an infection firstly. But as the antibiotics haven't worked the next option was root canal, bit I'd rather be referred as I think it's just a jaw problem rather than the tooth itself.
Thanks so much for your feedback that's great, all the best, Jen x
Having the same issues after a crown 2 weeks ago. I have an appointment this afternoon with the dentist.
How is the jaw now? Is it back to normal??
Hi Ginah
It's ironic that you should post this today as I'm back at the dentist this week with a infection under my tooth the root has died I'm on antibiotics and I was given the choice of root canal or abstraction . I've decided to loose the tooth. In answer to your question my jaw is still stiff and I can't open it as wide as normal this was prevelant at my dental appointment so I'm dreading the outcome of my abstraction next week .
I'm sorry to hear your tooth issue has returned, although it sounds worse now.
My dentist said mine is Tristmus. I googled it and it's more common name is lock-jaw. Yikes. My dentist said it's caused from the needle giving the anesthetic poking into the 3 layers in your gums and it only happens on the bottom gums. He said it causes a tiny blood clot about the size of a bb. He said to put a really warm cloth, as warm as I can stand, on my cheek, and repeat. Do again tomorrow. Also take AdvilAlleve (anti-inflammatory) as instructed on the bottle for a few days. He also said NOT to try and force it open, this will inflame it more. He said it should go away in a few weeks. He said he sees this a couple times a year. (I should buy a lottery tix!)
I wish you luck with your procedure. But perhaps you should seek another opinion from another dentist?
Gina
I went through the same through the same thing and I have a slip disc in my mouth. Surgery
I had this same problem my procedure was filling a cavity. I have to go talk to a surgeon...it turns out to be a slip disk from the anesthesia needle because the pain I felt was like electric, hot, and something I wouldn't want to experience and the nurse to me it was going in my nerve and repeated the same shot again I have a slip disc in my mouth
Currently going thru this. This thread has been very helpful. I will try the warm rag and exercises. Thanks!
I had one tooth filled and the next day had one pulled. I can barely open my mouth to eat. I tried that warm cloth with the exercise and ended up making it worse. Not sure you should exercises As doing that caused it to get worse. I went to the dentist after almost 2 weeks.. set up that wasn't better in a few weeks to come back but to put the warm facecloth on with exercise.
Feel your pain unfortunately it has to get better on its own mine took months even after going hospital . The pain did subside within a couple of weeks but my bite has been affected permanently. I am even more afraid of treatment at the dentist now I needed root canal work on two teeth . I couldn't bare the thought I lost two teeth and that was bad enough my dentist still keeps saying open your mouth wider but it's just not possible . Hope it's different for you but don't hold your breath . Push for a referral to hospital if your jaw is permanently affected I did but they didn't do much just exercise . They told me to come back if it got no better but like I said the pain dissipated just left with a short bite. Couldn't eat corn cob for months my bite was awful . Good luck hope you get sorted sorry I couldn't be much help . Just give it time x
I'm currently suffering this 'Trismus' condition which doesn't seem as rare as dentists would have you believe. I was at the dentist for a filling in a back tooth which only took about 35 minutes (not a long time) after the novocaine injection wore off I had this ongoing problem of experiencing pain if I opened my jaw past a certain small limit. I have read all the literature about this condition. It seems most the origins of this condition after dental treatment have involved local anaesthetic to the lower back jaw area. While dentists are unlikely to admit it, appears the likely cause in most these cases is the "the medial pterygoid
muscle is accidentally penetrated" on administering the injection.
"Ideally, the needle should be placed in the pterygoid space, which is bound by
the internal oblique ridge of the mandible on the lateral side and
pterygomandibular raphe on the medial side. Occasionally, the medial pterygoid
muscle is accidentally penetrated or a vessel is punctured and a small bleed
follows: a haematoma can occur in the muscle bed and subsequently organize,
causing a fibrosis. Trismus due to this cause can be protracted and quite
severe." For me it has now been 5 weeks since my filling, I returned to the dentist where he xrayed the filing and gave advice similar to that above, hot packs, exercises, anti-inflammatory. Further follow up if needed appears to involve physiotherapy or referral to facial maxo surgeon... so I can't see a quick fix here. The reference to my quote above can be found at 'Stacy GC, Hajjar G. Barbed needle and inexplicable paresthesias and trismus after dental regional
anesthesia. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol 1994; 77: 585–586.
Update: 7.13.17
I almost have full range again (original dental procedure, replace cracked filling, was 6.5.17)
I went to a tmj specialist last week and was told a few things:
1. I need a splint (looks like a retainer or invisiline) for one set of teeth.
2. This may never happen again, or it may...
3. Can be triggered by another procedure, stress, whiplash....
4. If extreme (mine is not) there is an option for surgery where the cut bone out of your skull.... NO THANKS!
I plan on getting the splint. I do clinch my teeth, which stresses the joints/muscles where the jaw connects to the skull, so maybe this will help. I hope you all find relief and return to normal soon!