Jaw pain

[Ivana]

Hello

I woke up this morning with a lot of pain in my jaw around my jaw joints on both sides. This has happened a few times before but the pain has never been as bad as today. I took a few pain killers and by lunch time today the pain had gone.

Can you tell me what has happened to my jaw and what I can do to stop this pain from happening again?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Hi

Thank you for your post. Waking up in the morning with pain from jaw joints could be caused by you clenching or grinding (Bruxism) of your teeth when you are asleep. If you do grind your teeth, sometimes one can see classic wear facets on the teeth that are being worn down.

You will need to be assessed by an experienced dentist and if evidence of active grinding and clenching is found, you will need a soft or hard nightguard.

The wear will have to be reviewed with study models and if any significant damage has been caused to the teeth, you may need them rebuilt again with composite fillings.