Johnnie W Lewis

Keep Your Mouth Shut!



Posted: Friday, February 10, 2006

by
Johnnie W Lewis

I’ve heard of some kids not being able to keep their mouths shut, but this one beats all! Even the orthodontist said he’d never seen it.

Little Fella (my teenaged son) was at school one day, the school nurse called and fairly screamed, “Come pick up your son. His mouth is stuck open!" My questioning did no good, ‘cause the lady had never seen such an occurrence and didn’t know what to do except to give him a bag of ice for the pain.

A year and a half earlier, Little Fella finally got braces (at 16 ½). But, in anticipation of the braces, his upper jaw (the hard palate in his mouth) had to be separated (broken) to widen his mouth to accommodate all the teeth he had coming in. That done, the braces went on. Last week, the braces came off. Yesterday, he yawned too wide (is that possible?!?) while leaning his chin on both hands. With the adverse pressure, his jaw popped out of the socket on the right!

The panic call from the nurse led us to chasing around for an hour trying to find a doctor who wasn’t out to lunch! Bad move. The poor boy had his mouth opened wide for over an hour and a half. After consulting nurses in several offices and determining that their doctor wouldn’t be able to help either (remember, I’m a Mom, talking on a cell phone while driving around, with a child in pain), I made the executive decision to head for the emergency room. The sounds coming from the passenger seat sounded a lot like Lamaze labor moans. As the sounds crescendo-ed and I drove faster, Little Fella gave one last shriek and grabbed his jaw. Suddenly, the jaw “popped" and it slid back into place.

I slowed down to the speed limit, looked over at him and asked, “So. That’s it ?!?" He replied, “I need pizza."

The orthodontist that I had originally called gave an explanation fit for a second year medical school class, but I gleaned enough for a good at-home science lesson. The upper jaw expansion was a contributing factor. The top point of the mandible (lower jaw) fits into a sliding socket, not a closed socket like your shoulder or hip, to allow movement of the jaw during chewing. The protuberance in the front of the socket (part of the upper jaw) varies in length and that’s why there’s the possibility of the jaw “popping," even out of place. Little Fella’s protuberance was not only too short, but out of sync with the width of the lower jaw because of the aforementioned hard palate separation. Hence, the popping out and staying out of place!

Think again before you tell someone to keep his mouth shut. He may actually not be able to!
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by Maureen from Livermore, CA 5 years 123 days ago.
Yes, this article was very helpful. My daughter's jaw got stuck open as well. We had to go to the emergeny room both times it happened. We are supposed to go to and Oral Surgeon next week. Thanks for the information.
» left by Anonymous
 2 years 189 days ago.
well im glad he is okay....but one hour with his mouth open was quite long.....an ambulance should have been called immediately
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