The right side of my jaw makes a cracking sound every time I open my mouth

It just feels like when you crack your fingers; like if I touch it, it feels like two bones snapping/clicking against each other. But it’s not painful at all, but I’m worried that it’s a symptom of something more severe.

Should I go to the chiropractor or dentist for this?

I would. Not really sure what field of medicine musical jaw syndrome falls under, but I’d probably go see one of the mouth-related departments at a major hospital like TMUH, then they can do any necessary X-rays and/or refer you to a colleague if it’s a different department. (I wouldn’t go to a regular dental clinic for something like that.)

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:person_facepalming:

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Happens to me sometimes. Then it goes away. I think a lot of people live with that.

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Just eat soft foods and put an ice pack on it occasionally. TMD will go away in 90% of people. If you are in the 10% that it doesn’t, there is no cure. You just have to learn to live with it.

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You could get someone to even it up for you? :facepunch:

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I’m imagining a chiropractor cracking a jaw like he does a back with one hand on a knee and one hand on a shoulder but with one hand on the mandible and one hand on the bridge of the nose. Seems brutal but makes me laugh.

Welp, I guess I’m a part of the 10% because it’s been like this since 5 years ago

It took you a long time to start worrying then… :sweat_smile:

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Mine’s done that forever. TMJ. I can both feel and hear something pop out of place

Neither. Go to an orthodontist.

You probably have a slight misalignment between the upper and lower jaw, i.e. when you close your mouth, your teeth don’t fit together when your jaw is relaxed. Instead, you need to push back or forward your lower jaw creating some tension on the muscles and the joint of the jawbone.

If that is the case, the only solution is getting braces to correct the tooth displacement. As an alternative, you can get a retainer made which you can wear during nights and which helps your jaw relax.

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Hi! My girlfriend works in that field and she says you have to book an appointment with the 復健科 doctor (the rehab department).
The doctor will evaluate your condition and probably give you some exercises to relax your jaw.

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@spicycrispychicken While I’m no fan of chiropractors, I do know of a few people who legitimately recovered from TMJ problems after visiting a chiropractor who specialized in this. These were chiropractors in North America. They would manipulate the jaw from inside and outside. This type of manipulation seems somewhat plausible (e.g., relaxing related muscles mostly).

In terms of the profession of chiropractics overall (they’re not all medical school dropouts) I also know one guy in Taiwan who has had success with a professional (by his estimation) chiropractor. The chiropractor was in the Chiayi area. I lost the business card though.

Overall, they’ll always be bone crunchers to me. I’m too afraid to visit them. I saw one in Tainan that put his knee in my back and cracked me a couple times before charging me a thousand NT (no NHI).

Maybe try some of the following exercises:

Comic relief:

How do you feel about Osteopaths?

About 20 years ago i went to my dentist in Canada about this, or somethingsimilar. It’s easily fixed with surgery. I passed. If it’s not life threatening, and it poses no future threats, why bother having your face opened up.

Anyways mine only occurs when i open my mouth fully, its like the jaw hinge on on side goes out of line just at the apex.

I totally forgot about it umtil now. yup, still there.

This is the answer. For people new to tmj, it’s hard to Google since it’s a newer field. Dentist sends you to orthadontist, and ortha sends you to dentist. Doctor sends you to dentist.

TMJ specialist is what you want, but they’ll only educate you since there’s no cure. Yet.

Google and YouTube using tmj keyword. In a nutshell, it was likely caused by stress and clenching your jaw. If you had braces with bands, shifting your jaw can contribute to tmj. You need to relax your jaw (esp at night). It’s a small ball under your ear that holds the alignment of your jaw that slipped out. You can’t slide it back yet, but you can manage it.

Train yourself to not have a vacuum in your mouth. Drop your mouth open a bit like Lyndsey Lohan or supermodel poses :joy:. Then stretch your lower jaw left and right. For up and down stretches, lower chin to beck and push your double muscle under your chin; don’t do max (otherwise the chin muscles will pop out and it’ll hurt like ****).

Rub your TMJ area in circles. And nearby. There are many face pressure points that need massaging.

TMJ can also lead to tinnitus. If you hear a high pitch noise in silence. This is also a newer field with very few specialists and a different (but similar) topic, currently discussed here: