When I open my mouth all the way...

**Domite** · Posted On: 12/14/2008 11:19pm

Something in the right side of my jaw "pops."

It is painless, but not normal. It feels like when you have a double jointed thumb and you pop it out.

**Kentucky Fried Chokin** · Posted On: 12/14/2008 11:47pm

Does it come unhinged? Because that's a pretty serious(ly annoying) disorder. My mom has it and bothers the **** out of her. I knew a guy in college that always carried around a metal folding chair. I never knew why until he did a presentation about it where he explained that the chairs at school gave him bad posture which screwed up his jaw. Poor bastard looked like a wierdo always carrying around that chair. I'm afriad I can't remember the name of it.

**Domite** · Posted On: 12/15/2008 1:27am

how would I be able to tell?

Edit: nvm, I figured it out.

**Kentucky Fried Chokin** · Posted On: 12/15/2008 1:29am

I don't know. Check with your doctor.

**SuperGuido** · Posted On: 12/15/2008 1:54pm

Sounds like TMJ.

See a dentist that specializes in TMJ and jaw disorders.

**danniboi07** · Posted On: 12/15/2008 2:34pm

Yah it happens. It's nothing serious. Once you start feeling pain in your jaw joint (can be confused with ear pain) then you should start seeking treatment.

Mine started popping a while ago. It's annoying, but you'll get used to it. My dentist advised against popping it as much as possible, but mine pops real easy when I open my mouth only half-way. I just got used to it.

One case can be if you get hit in the jaw a certain way or something. So those who don't have TMJ....wear your mouthgaurds!

**Snake Plissken** · Posted On: 12/15/2008 2:44pm

It happens to me every so often and my dentist told me not to worry about it.

**Breakfast Fox** · Posted On: 12/15/2008 2:59pm

Sounds like TMJ. I have it too - do you get a lot of tension headaches?

**Colby** · Posted On: 12/15/2008 3:50pm

My jaw pops whenever I eat something that is sort of chewy (bread, etc.). It doesn't bother me, but it bothers my wife and parents. I've asked a couple of dentists about it, and they told me that as long as it doesn't cause me any discomfort, not to worry about it. The surgery to correct it is not minor...

From what I gather, the cartilage that cusions the mandible from the base of my skull has been compressed, it it just makes a popping sound once it goes beyond a certain angle. I have been punched and kicked in the jaw before, and play jujitsu (and frequently get crossfaced, knuckles in the jaw, etc.) and I'm sure that it really doesn't help it.

The only headaches I usually get are spouse-induced...

**Vieux Normand** · Posted On: 12/15/2008 4:51pm

Originally Posted by danniboi07

Yah it happens. It's nothing serious. Once you start feeling pain in your jaw joint (can be confused with ear pain) then you should start seeking treatment.

Mine started popping a while ago. It's annoying, but you'll get used to it. My dentist advised against popping it as much as possible, but mine pops real easy when I open my mouth only half-way. I just got used to it.

One case can be if you get hit in the jaw a certain way or something. So those who don't have TMJ....wear your mouthgaurds!

On that last point, mouthguards will provide some protection specific to the teeth, but jaw-cracking hits will, of course, still occur...particularly in bareknuckle. A shot--say a hook--that connects in front of the ear can fracture a number of bones in the vicinity. In addition to leaving you able to open your mouth no more than a half-inch or so for a couple of weeks, it can leave you thereafter with a long-term or permanent percussive sound, on that side, every time you open your food-hole. You'll soon stop noticing it...