When you think of attending a dental check-up the chances are you visualise having your teeth looked at for signs of decay and your gums being prodded to check for soft spots.

And while these are both important diagnostic tests, there is more than can be done and identified during your biannual check-up.

For one thing, a common issue that can be treated by dental teams that is often overlooked is a problem with jaw misalignment.

At Amsel and Wilkins, our dentist in Banbury aims to ensure that your entire mouth is healthy and, should you have a problem with your upper and lower jaw meshing together, our team will aim to resolve this issue.

But you may be wondering how a misaligned jaw is diagnosed. Well, it turns out if you have some of the following symptoms or all of them, you may want to pop in to see our dentist in Banbury to explore realignment options.

Clicking jaw

Do you ever open your mouth to yawn and have a popping sensation?

If you do, this could be an indicator that there is an issue with your jaw and that you need to see our dentist in Banbury.

Typically, a clicking jaw is often caused by temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) which, in itself, is linked to misalignment of the upper and lower jaws. If we suspect that you have TMD, we may order a set of X-rays to have a better look at the joint and will then decide on the best way to relieve the popping and the alignment issue.

Discomfort around the jaw joint

An obvious indicator of problems with your jaw alignment is discomfort around the jaw joint.

This is usually more obvious in the morning, as during the night you may have spent a great deal of time grinding your teeth together as a way to compensate for the misalignment. This can also be worsened by certain medications, such as antidepressants, so if you have suddenly developed discomfort around your jaw joints and have begun taking such medications, you should talk to your GP.

To alleviate this discomfort, our team may decide to provide a mouthguard to wear at night. If the jaw misalignment is more complex, we may opt for surgery to relieve the discomfort and protect the joint.

Back and shoulder discomfort

Yes, that misaligned jaw can cause problems in other parts of your body too.

For instance, there are many muscles in the jaw that are connected to those in your back and shoulders. And if you spend a large amount of time grinding your teeth or compensating for misalignment in other ways, these muscles will become tense and sore.

Once again, we can aim to alleviate this with mouthguards depending on the severity of the alignment of the jaw.

Difficulty chewing food

OK, so if you are ever having issues eating food, you need to seek medical help! But if this creeps on gradually, and you find it hurts your jaw to bite into or chew food, this can be an indicator of TMD and you will need to see our team for diagnosis and treatment.