Can't open my mouth more then an inch

[sarah_bella1050]

One side of my jaw is locked and it hurts I went to the dentist today b/c I thought it was my wisdom tooth which has been coming in. I do have an infection and they gave me anitbiotics and muscle relaxers (which shouldn't be taken while breastfeeding so I don't plan to take them). There was a lot of himming and haaing at the doctors office over what could of caused this and honestly I'm totally freaked out! How bad is the infection? Could it be more serious, should I be freaking out? Could it be lockjaw? What if I have MRSA (my family has had it so therefore they are carriers)?

Has anyone on here had this? Any advice? I tried google, but didn't come up with much of anything. I could really use some help.

[Amylcd]

Is the infection caused by a tooth?

[mamakay]

Does your jaw ever pop when you chew stuff?
My guess would be that it's your TMJ, and a combo of the infection and having to open your mouth wide at the dentist's office messed it up.
When my jaw has locked up before, I've been prescribed Naproxin (what's in Aleve) and that has worked (sometimes.)
Either way, I wouldn't freak out too bad.

[Drummer's Wife]

I would bet you will feel much better after a couple rounds of the abx. My DH has had an infected wisdom tooth and his pain was similar. When it was at it's worst, he couldn't open his mouth to eat. When your wisdom teeth are still coming in and not completely errupted it's a lot easier to get food stuck under the gum making an infection more likely.

Hopefully by this time tomorrow your pain will not be near as severe and you will be able to open your mouth all the way. If it gets worse instead of better, call your dentist!

[stormborn]

I have that happen every few months but after a year of docs shrugging and passing me on to the next guy I gave up on getting it diagnosed. I really think in my case it's a lymph node swelling and hitting a nerve or something because it always happens after one of us has been sick. I doubt yours is the same cause..just wanted you to know someone out there has had the same thing happen for years and hasn't keeled over yet.

It does go away after a few days. I hope you feel better soon. Oh and look up the drug in question just to be sure; in my experience docs will often say not to take while nursing as a CYA thing when it might be ok to do so.

[sarah_bella1050]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I do believe the infection is caused by a tooth, but I can't have it pulled or do anything to it b/c they can't open my mouth, however the tooth doesn't hurt. It's weird I've been losing mobility of my jaw every day. Monday it could open an inch and a bit more if I really tried, by tuesday it could open about 2/3 of an inch, and the pain reached down tomy neck, today my mouth can barely open a half inch. It's only on one side though, so I'm doubting that it's anything serious like tetanus. I think my main concern is about how fast it is spreading. It's not just locked it's very painful and a bit swollen. I was thinking about going to the doctor today, I just don't know if I trust there conclusion at the dentists office, they seemed very unsure of thier diagnosis....

[babygrant]

Tmj

[Drummer's Wife]

If it is an infected tooth give the abx a bit more time. My DH could not get his mouth worked on until the swelling had gone down and he was able to open and close his jaw enough for the dentist to get in there.

[Amylcd]

I'm going through the exact same thing right now... infected tooth, slight swelling on the jaw line, and it's painful to open my mouth. I've taken 3 antibiotic pills so far, and mine seems to get better after every one. It's much better than it was before I started the pills. I would give the antibiotics a little more time to work.