Does anyone experience a Dental problem with Jaw Joint tightness?

I do… It could be misalignment, especially if you’ve had the dental work done recently? For example, it can often happen with fillings of the fillings are “too high” and change the bite.

But it could also he TMJ/TMD. That seems more likely. It could either be chronic or acute if it got triggered by something. I’ve had TMJ pain for a long time but it got exponentially worse after I had both a dental cleaning and for a filling corrected. I have chronic pain conditions and that was just too much strain on my jaw to keep my mouth open for so long.

If that’s what it is, depending on what caused it, some people use mouth guards to prevent teeth grinding or clenching at night that overworks the jaw, do relaxation techniques or self massage for the musicales that get tight around the jaw, and/or PT. I was already in PT when it happened, so my PT helped me. It’s slow going though…kind of hard to treat.

Did you recently get the dental work done? If so, you could call or go back to your dentist. That’s where my doctor told me to start, but of course he wasn’t all that helpful.

I hope it feels better soon.

I’ve been having some jaw issues , like when I yawn my jaw clicks and tightens & causes like a spasm on my neck. It isn’t always there so thinking it may be the way I hold my head or sleep. I had my acupuncturist work on it. It feels better. Next visit I’ll have her work on it again. Might try acupuncture.

@pattycake1 I have been having this exact problem and it is being triggered by a muscle spasm on one side of my neck. I am a cervical spine surgery patient and I also have thoracic outlet syndrome or TOS which makes one side of my neck too tight. That is enough to start spontaneously rotating the vertebrae in my neck on their own, and when that happens, I get headaches on the back and side of my head (worse on one side), half of my face can tingle or gets numb, sharp ear pain, and jaw (both upper and lower) and teeth pain. I work with a physical therapist and she says when the SCM muscles get too tight, it can cause tooth pain. That is only part of the muscles involved in this, and I have done myofascial release with this PT for a long time, so I knew some of what I could do to self treat and stretch the tight side while I wait to see her and I did feel the stretch radiate up into my jaw and face. I did at first think this was a problem with a dental implant and got pretty worried, but that seems to be OK now, and I have been able to alter and better the symptoms with stretching.

I had a whiplash about 25 years ago which caused the C5/C6 spine disc to be damaged and years later needed surgery when it ruptured and formed bone spurs. Of course there is surgical scar tissue there now too which adds to the tightness so I must keep stretching this area. I have had one side of my jaw get so tight that I ground down dental fillings only on that side.

You may be interested in our MFR discussion. There is a provider search for therapists at https://www.mfrtherapists.com/

Neuropathy - "Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

@pattycake1 TMJ is annoying.
I have recently developed Occipital Neuralgia which causes pain similar to TMJ. My pain is around my jaw, cheek, under my eye, my scalp is tender to touch and my neck and shoulders hurt.

It is caused by a misalignment of the head and neck that causes the nerves under the skin on the head to get inflamed. It also inflamed the nerves in my left eye causing me to temporarily lose vision 3 times in two days.

I think that extensive dental work can lead to a misalignment of your head and neck.

For me it was a new pillow. It was too high and it put me out of wack! I did physical therapy, and bought a new pillow and I am better.

Best wishes.

In the mid 80s I began the process to repair all the damage I had done. to my teeth. I vividly recall my periodontist turning to me exclaiming. he had never met anyone who "LOCKED" their jaw as tight as I did.

GOOD LUCK

@SusanEllen66 What kind of PT did you do? I was also diagnosed with this--it's so close to TMJ, but I also now have jaw pain--it feels arthritic. I also thought it was because I had sinus issues and slept on three pillows for a few weeks.

You can get arthritis in the jaw (especially if its damaged) I have; I get pain if I eat the wrong food (mostly I live on a soft food diet) dental work is a big cause of pain, I dread the dentist.

@keomio1 I have TMJ. I get physical therapy for it. You do need a Dr's order in order to get the therapy started. It does helps some. They massage your cheeks and bones on your face, near the TMJ area. They have you do exercises in office and at home exercises too. It has helped some for me. TMJ is difficult to treat. I wear a mouth guard for my sleep apnea, however you can get mouth guards for TMJ as well. A Chiropractor could help you with your neck also. Some have red light therapy, which may help you as well. The Chiropractor will take an X-ray and show you the results of it. I have had acupressure massage and that helps on other parts of my body, not sure if they do the head/jaw or not. Heat can help as well. I use a face roller, it is for your skin to prevent wrinkles. It is small and I use that and it helps some.

@animallover25 @keomio1
I have Temporomandibular dysfunction or TMD and see a specialist who is also a dentist. I am in physical therapy now and am a spine surgery patient due to a whiplash some years ago. That is all related to this problem as my C1 and C2 can slip slightly out of alignment which affects jaw alignment. I have a mouth appliance that is repositioning my jaw to be forward to take the pressure off of the jaw joint. As a kid, when I had braces on my teeth, they pulled my jaw backwards and per the specialist, that set up the TMD issues for my future and a neck injury didn’t help. The PT and dental specialist are working together on this. My PT actually recommends against chiropractor adjustments because it tweaks the defensive support structures in the spine and cumulative stressors of aggressive adjustments can destabilize the spine. From my experience with a damaged disc, I know that the injury weakened the fibrous wall of the disc and eventually it ruptured and spilled out the jelly like nucleus. You don’t really know how strong or weak a disc is after an injury or even years after an injury. My PT has osteopathic training and does very gentle spine alignment adjustments only after the muscles around the area have been loosened and prepared for a little movement.

My mouth appliance is also being periodically adjusted to spread my lower jaw for better alignment and for better interaction with the cervical spine and increasing breathing capacity. I have allergies and asthma and this should help everything.

@keomio1 ok. First thing. Don’t sleep on raised pillow, or pillows.
If your neck is pushing up towards your chest it will throw the neck and occipital muscles out of wack.

I have done the PT, but still have trouble. At least I know what it is, and why my jaw joints, nose, teeth, forehead, and scalp hurt! As I am typing this, my scalp hurts, and I believe I am having a migraine. The headache is from my neck…

Therapy for occipital neuralgia is really neck stretching done slowly. Heat packs help too.

Hopefully I have answers some questions.