Are you suffering from a limited range of opening with your jaw? Have you realized that this matter has occurred suddenly or gotten worse over a period of time? Do you wake up with tense facial muscles or headaches in the morning?
While these questions may seem odd, they are important for ruling out why you may have a limited opening of your mouth. In fact, the term “trismus” is used to describe painful and limited jaw movements. Those who suffer from TMD (temporomandibular joint disorder) may have pain or muscle tension from grinding their teeth. This can also make it difficult to open the mouth while eating, the range of opening can be limited. To see if you suffer from trismus, you can try stacking between your top and bottom teeth in the front. If you can insert three stacked fingers in between the teeth, you are more than likely fine, but if you can only stack one or two this may indicate an issue.
Thankfully, dental professionals are specifically trained in irregularities and disorders of the jaws/mouth like TMD and trismus. Specifically, at River Run Dental Spa located in the Richmond, VA area we have general dentists who are equipped with the knowledge of treating patients with TMD issues. In our offices, we offer TMJ therapy exclusively to help train the jaws and help our patients with normal range of opening. Additionally, we offer mouthguards as an option in our office to patients who are candidates in helping ease their TMJ pains.
Please contact River Run Dental Spa:
If you notice that you have pain upon opening your jaw, limited upon opening your jaw or simply cannot chew comfortably without pain, you should contact our office at your earliest convenience to be evaluated. A limited range of openings is not normal and can cause further problems down the road if left alone, which is why you should not hesitate to wait for a professional to take a look. Please visit our website so that we can help you live more comfortably and meet your dental needs!