While the work of nursing home dental care services is to ensure good oral health, most people think that oral health is only about teeth. Jaw care is also part of oral health and your dentist needs to check your jaw to ensure it is healthy when you go for a checkup. A broken jaw is a common injury on the face. A broken jaw is a commonly fractured bone in our bodies. Fractures are the result of direct trauma or force to the jawbone.
When a jaw is dislocated, it means that the temporomandibular joint is moved out of place. Your jawbone may or may not be broken or fractured but even if there is no jawbone fracture, symptoms may be similar to a fracture. The temporomandibular joint dislocation is a topic of another day.
The mandible or jawbone is the main bone and the largest bone of the lower part of your face. Back in the 19th century, broken jaws and fractures were treated using external wraps and healing was very poor, realignment of the jaw bone to ensure normal positioning of the teeth was infrequently accomplished and infections were frequent.
The normal stresses on the mandible or the jawbone generated by chewing didn’t help in the healing of the fracture and a lot of people died from no or poor treatment. In the late 80s, the jawbone stabilization was with screws, plates and bars. The stabilization of the jawbone has been refined over the years to include screw fixation, open reduction and rigid fixation with proper alignment of the teeth.
Causes of a broken jaw
Nursing home dental near you may be able to know the causes of the broken jaw by asking questions and carrying out various tests including X-rays and MRI. Although a fracture in the jawbone may occur from a lot of pathological causes, most fractures occur from assaults, motor vehicle accidents, falls and sports-related injuries. Most jawbone fractures occur in males between 20 and 30 years with most occurring with angle areas of the jawbone, the body and condyle.
Symptoms
In most patients, the signs and symptoms of fractures in the jawbone develop immediately after a trauma in the jaw. The most common symptom is pain in the jaw. You may also feel as if your teeth do not fit correctly. Your lower lip or chin may be numb because of injuries to the nerve that runs through the jawbone. Bleeding may occur inside the mouth or there may be a change in the normal teeth lineup. Inability to close the mouth and drooling may occur.
Broken jaw treatment
A lot of people who experience jaw pain will not have a fracture in their jaw and will be treated with medications and instructions to eat soft foods. Nursing home dental care may be necessary if you suspect a jawbone fracture. The patient may get a tetanus shot. A lot of jawbone fractures are stable and wiring the upper and lower teeth tother may be the ideal treatment. If the issue is serious, surgery may be the best treatment method.
