broken jaw?

[Manav]

Hi

I was out socializing last night and as I was coming home, I lost my balance and fell on my face. At the time, I just got up and walked slowly home but this morning my jaw aches a lot and my face has swollen up pretty badly.

When I close my mouth, I cant put all of my teeth together, although when I look at my teeth, they look like they are all there and none seem to have broken as far as I can tell.

Is it possible that I may have broken my jaw? How can I tell if my jaw is broken. If my jaw is broken, who do I need to see to get it fixed? Do I need to see my GP or my dentist to get it fixed?

[Dr Vahid Motahar]

Hi,

Thank you for your question.

From the descriptions you have given, it appears that you have broken your jaw. You must attend a hospital with maxillofacial unit like Kings College Hospital in London to have your jaw examined and radiographed. Then they will fix you jaw for you. You must do this asap because if you delay it very quickly you will have fibrous healing of the fractured section rather than bone attachment and repair. Also your bite will never be correct. In other words if you delay this even by few weeks, your jaw will start to heal and for its correction they need to break your jaw again. So go to hospital asap.