Dealing with jaw pain is a frustrating experience, because it is often caused by an oral health problem that is not easy to fix on your own. Here are a few reasons why your jaw is in pain, and what you can do about it.

Decaying Teeth

When you have a tooth that has plaque on it, it can cause tooth decay that will affect your gums. Over time, it will eventually lead to your jaw hurting. You may need to have a dentist remove the tooth and prescribe you an antibiotic, which will help eliminate any infection still in the gums. While tooth decay is preventable with brushing and flossing, it's also treatable if caught early enough. Make sure to attend regular appointments with a dentist for cleanings.

Wisdom Teeth

Your jaw pain may be due to additional molars that are growing in later in life. If your mouth does not have enough room for the wisdom teeth to come in, it can cause a lot of pain within the jaw before the teeth even appear. There is also a possibility that the wisdom teeth are growing sideways underneath your gums, which will mess up the alignment of the other teeth in your mouth. If left alone, you'll run the risk of having orthodontic work messed up. Your dentist can perform x-rays to determine how far along these wisdom teeth are growing, and recommend a way to extract them.

Teeth Grinding

You may be grinding your teeth and not even know it. That is because it can be something that you do subconsciously during the night when you are sleeping. Over time, it will wear down your teeth and cause damage to your jaw, which can be a reason you are experiencing so much jaw pain. In addition, teeth grinding will cause damage to your teeth that wears them down over years due to this habit.

The solution will be to visit a dentist to receive a custom mouth guard, which will be much more comfortable than anything you can buy at the store. Being comfortable is the key to actually wearing it, which will reduce the jaw pain you're experiencing.

Don't feel like your jaw pain is being caused by one of these three problems? Reach out to your dentist to have an inspection done. They'll be able to take x-rays and tell you what is causing your jaw pain, then recommend a solution to fix it. Navigate to this site for more help.