Jaw makes snapping noises

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muffinman

muffinman

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 1, 2005
394
0
San Diego, California
Since last week, whenever I bite something more than oatmeal, my jaw makes a funny noise. I think its something where my jaw moves left or right or up or down. It's a little cracking noise. There is no pain though.

I'm 16. Could this be because I'm growing and my jaw is growing? Or is it something else? Should I be worried?
 

elisha cuthbert

elisha cuthbert

macrumors 6502a
Feb 25, 2006
665
0
Melbourne
muffinman said:
Since last week, whenever I bite something more than oatmeal, my jaw makes a funny noise. I think its something where my jaw moves left or right or up or down. It's a little cracking noise. There is no pain though.

I'm 16. Could this be because I'm growing and my jaw is growing? Or is it something else? Should I be worried?
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ive got something like that too, i went to my doctor and he said see a dentist so i think i have to see a dentist and also for you i think go and see your doc and see what he says. btw im 16 too
 
X

x86isslow

macrumors 6502a
Aug 10, 2003
889
10
USA
muffinman said:
Since last week, whenever I bite something more than oatmeal, my jaw makes a funny noise. I think its something where my jaw moves left or right or up or down. It's a little cracking noise. There is no pain though.

I'm 16. Could this be because I'm growing and my jaw is growing? Or is it something else? Should I be worried?
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This happened to me too. I ended up getting a bite plate, because apparently, I unconciously clench at night. Its still a problem for me at twenty :eek:
 
muffinman

muffinman

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 1, 2005
394
0
San Diego, California
x86isslow said:
This happened to me too. I ended up getting a bite plate, because apparently, I unconciously clench at night. Its still a problem for me at twenty :eek:
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After you got the bite plate, did you still get these cracks?
 
Fiveos22

Fiveos22

macrumors 65816
Nov 20, 2003
1,080
1
Do you chew gum often? Or do you do something that would cause you to work your jaw more often than usual? What I am asking about would be signs of wear on the pad of cartilage that is near your ear (making the jaw's motion nice and smooth). LINK But, I'm not doctor (yet).

If it bothers you maybe you should have someone look at it.
 
MACDRIVE

MACDRIVE

macrumors 68000
Feb 17, 2006
1,695
3
Clovis, California
Hey muffinman, don't sweat it. TMJ is quite common with a lot of people, myself included. It goes away after awhile and comes back periodically from time to time.

We humans are produced with two inherent design flaws: The lower back and the jaw. The human jaw is very strong, but the joint was not designed durable enough to handle the strength. The lower back on the other hand, is weak AND a poor design. ;)
 
OnceUGoMac

OnceUGoMac

macrumors 6502a
Mar 3, 2004
914
0
MACDRIVE said:
Hey muffinman, don't sweat it. TMJ is quite common with a lot of people, myself included. It goes away after awhile and comes back periodically from time to time.

We humans are produced with two inherent design flaws: The lower back and the jaw. The human jaw is very strong, but the joint was not designed durable enough to handle the strength. The lower back on the other hand, is weak AND a poor design. ;)
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Maybe we should write a strongly worded letter to the manufacturer?:p
 
muffinman

muffinman

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 1, 2005
394
0
San Diego, California
MACDRIVE said:
Hey muffinman, don't sweat it. TMJ is quite common with a lot of people, myself included. It goes away after awhile and comes back periodically from time to time.

We humans are produced with two inherent design flaws: The lower back and the jaw. The human jaw is very strong, but the joint was not designed durable enough to handle the strength. The lower back on the other hand, is weak AND a poor design. ;)
Click to expand...
Alright. Thanks. Hopefully this will go away in a couple of days...

I hope its not TMJ. TMJ looks painful......
 

yg17

yg17

macrumors G5
Aug 1, 2004
14,911
2,480
St. Louis, MO
Speaking of jaws, I've got a question about something that happened to me. I was driving somewhere, and all of the sudden, I felt excruciating pain in my jaw. It hurt like hell, and was even worse when I tried to move it. The pain was so bad that if I wasn't a couple blocks from home, I probably would've had to pull over because it was that bad. Then, after 5 minutes or so, the pain went away and it returned back to normal. That was the first and only time that's happened to me, what the heck was it?
 
S

swingerofbirch

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2003
3,159
1,828
The Amalgamated States of Central North America
I grind my teeth something awful.

I tried a sports mouthguard but it made me gag. I am going to get fitted for one.

I get jaw pain around the "hinge" of the jaw. I fill a sammich ziploc bag wtih hot water and hold it up to it. It helps. Or sometimes I have a headache from the pain and I take ibuprofen.

EDIT: the dentist is also going to drill at my teeth so that they fit better together and will hopefully have less grinding. You could ask about that. It might be called a "fitting" or something....looking forward to it.
 
madog

madog

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2004
1,274
1
Korova Milkbar
My buddy has had a jaw "clicking" noise for as long as I've known him. It trips me out at times but he's always had it and he's fine.

On a side note, I have an over bite and a side bite. Basically my jaw is so [unnoticeably] misaligned that I am a candadite to have my jaw broken, wired shut, and realigned. Sounds appealing, I know, but I still have a beautiful smile so my orthodontist can go fornicate himself. "Get my jaw broken", what a jackass.
 
mrgreen4242

mrgreen4242

macrumors 601
Feb 10, 2004
4,355
1
I have mild TMJ (craptastic orthodontist) and it comes and goes (I'm 26 now)... what helps the most when it is bad is just to massage the jaw muscles for awhile while relaxing them so my mouth hangs open a bit (do this at home, in your room, with the door closed where noone will see you ;)). This helps me unlock my jaw and eat/speak normally.
 
0098386

0098386

Suspended
Jan 18, 2005
21,576
2,886
Thank god for this thread. I've been getting something funky for about a year now. It must be something to do with the cartilage as the more I use my jaw - the harder it is to use. Never, ever painful though. The best way to describe it is if I look fully up, I can not fully open my mouth or move it sideways, it sorta locks in place. I can still open a little bit though.

It's only on one side too. the dentist said "ah, you have the clicking jaw, i will refer you to hospital"... which he hasn't done yet. If anything it's more an annoyance - eating pizzas or anything big just becomes nigh impossible!
 
mad jew

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,199
6
Adelaide, Australia
I creaked and groaned all through my growing months. I've definitely finished growing and I creak less nowadays. I think creaking teenagers are normal. :cool:
 
L

Lau

Guest
I'm part of the club too! :D

My dentist referred me to some dental hospital, but I never went through with it because it would have involved all sorts of night guard nonsense and at the time I had a burgeoning sex life to be a-getting on with. :p

It's got much better by itself now. The only time it ever bothers me is if I eat anything larger than a small popcorn at the cinema — as I start to get anywhere near the bottom of a medium it starts clicking quite badly. My solution is to not be a fat cow and just get the small, as the medium's gargantuan anyway. :)
 
J

jdechko

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2004
4,091
217
The same thing (or something similar) happens to my wife constantly. It seems like every time we sit down to eat her jaw makes these loud pops. If it doesn't go away, we may go to the dentist for it.
 

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