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Headaches from Dental Stress
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This
is a fact sheet for people who want to know more about problems affecting
the jaw joint, particularly a condition called temporomandibular
jaw dysfunction (TMJD).
Many people suffer from headaches, face pain and jaw clicking. Sometimes
this is because of problems with the jaw joint. Jaw joint problems
affect about 40 percent of people at some time in their life.
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The
jaw joints are just in front of your ears where the lower jaw bone
(mandible) meets the skull. The joints allow you to open and close
your mouth and move it from side to side or backwards and forwards.
These movements are brought about by muscles that surround the joints.
Each joint is made up of part of the surface of each bone - the jaw and the skull - surrounded by a capsule. One side of the capsule is made of a ligament called the lateral ligament. Between the two bones is a disc of fibrous tissue which helps the jaw to move smoothly.2
The medical name for the jaw joint is the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). |
Problems that affect the jaw joint
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There
are various problems that can cause jaw pain, clicking, stiffness
or spasm (trismus).
One cause of problems may be small bony growths around the joint.3 These may be due to irregularities in your joint that have always been there or new growths that have developed. Older people may get pain in their jaw joint due to arthritis, when the joint becomes worn with age.4
Jaw problems can develop if there are changes in the way your teeth meet when you bite together, for example after having lots of teeth removed.4 Another cause of jaw joint problems is previous jaw injuries, such as dislocation.4
A common problem affecting the jaw joint is called temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJD), where the jaw joint does not open or close correctly.
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Other
muscles may also become involved. Your head is delicately balanced
on top of your spinal column by muscles in your jaw, neck, shoulders,
and back. Your head weighs approximately 15 pounds the weight of
an average bowling ball! Imagine your head as a baseball balanced
on top of a pencil by a number of rubber bands. When muscles are
tense, they shorten. Now imagine shortening just one of those rubber
bands. Some rubber bands would stretch, some would shorten, and
the baseball would be thrown off kilter! Similarly, when even a
single jaw, neck, or shoulder muscle becomes shortened, all of the
other muscles are forced to overwork to keep the head balanced on
top of the spinal column. We see then that dental headaches originate
from an unstable bite which cause the muscles of the jaw, head,
and neck to overwork and become painful. Once the muscles become
painful, a vicious cycle begins. The pain makes you feel tense and
uptight. This worsens the muscle spasm, which in turn increases
the pain.
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1)
pain - usually a dull ache in and around the ear, cheek bone or
neck
2) headache, especially in the morning
3) jaw joint clicking - this may make a sound and you may feel
a cracking, grating, crunching or popping sensation
4 ) jaw locking - either open or closed
5 ) being unable to open your mouth properly
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One
of the most common causes of TMJD is teeth grinding and clenching,
when you regularly push and scrape your teeth together. You may
do this at night when you are sleeping, or when you are concentrating
on something or feeling stressed. You may not be aware that you
are doing it. Jaw problems can also result from nail biting or
holding things between your teeth, which you may do more when
you feel anxious or stressed.
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