jaw clicking - wisdom tooth problem?

[helen20]

HI
i have a clicking jaw on rt side. Was told it was because of biting my nails (that i did many years ago). the problem hasnt improved 12 months on, clicking and not able to open mouth fully. To me it looks like my wisdom tooth is growing awkardly, although my dentist hasnt said anything about that. I am also biting the inside of my right cheek, causing it to be painful. My rt wisdom tooth is half exposed and to me look not in line with the others.

have been advised to take brufen and swill area wiv salt water upto 6-8t times a day! still no improvement

Could my wisdom tooth cause my jaw to click and have limited movement?

helen

[John Kenyon, CNA]

Hi there -

Your wisdom tooth could very possibly be causing the misalignment of your jaw. If you have a history of problems of this sort, you may already have had temporomandibular joint disease (TMJ), and maybe it had gotten better before the wisdom tooth erupted.

The wisdom teeth frequently cause all sorts of problems due to not coming in anywhere near straight, and frequently it is cheaper and simpler to remove them than to correct their alignment. That's a decision only you and your dentist can decide, however.

While saline wash for the biting of your cheek and even the wisdom tooth should be continued to try and help keep the irritation down, it won't do a thing for the misalignment of the jaw, whatever the cause.

It may well be that having the wisdom tooth extracted could resolve the whole problem.

Best of luck to you with this.