Why can’t I open my mouth wide enough?

The symptom of not being able to open the mouth wide is quite common in life. The occurrence of this symptom has a great impact on the lives of many people. For example, it causes difficulty in eating, breathing, and long-term facial soreness due to the inability to expand the mouth. Therefore, people with this symptom must pay attention to the harm. Let’s take a look at what is going on with not being able to open the mouth wide?

Having trouble opening your mouth is short for temporomandibular arthritis, a condition of the joint where your jaw meets your ear and a common source of pain. Place your fingers in front of the ear canals on both sides and open your mouth wide, and you will hear a sound similar to splitting. Symptoms of TMJ arthritis are very common. These include local joint pain, ear pain, headache, noise and pain when chewing, and are accompanied by pain in various muscles. The ability to open the mouth is limited, and swallowing food is sometimes difficult.

Causes: 1. Crooked teeth Difficulty in moving the jaw up and down easily may be caused by "crooked" tooth position (which dentists call a bad bite). So the treatment is to make the teeth bite correctly. If your teeth don't fit together properly, it can lead to TMJ. But this is not absolute. Many people have a good bite but suffer from TMJ, while many people do not have TMJ despite crooked teeth.

2. Muscle imbalance Another reason why your mouth cannot open wide is muscle imbalance. Correction of the bite can help, and the use of mirrors and biofeedback can also relieve symptoms. A muscle imbalance may be caused by the mouth opening to one side. The correct way to open and close your mouth, bite or chew is to let the lower jaw rise and fall along the midline, rather than forcing it to the left or right. In partial mouth opening, the patient opens the mouth to one side instead of along the midline, and a grinding sound or crepitus may be heard. This sound is caused by expansion of the joint or wear of the membrane, indicating that the muscles pulling the jaw are not functioning properly and the movement of the jaw is unbalanced. If this is the cause of muscle imbalance, bite correction is necessary.

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