Car Crashes Lead to an Increase in Jaw Pain

The next time you're in a car accident, you might want to have your jaw checked by a doctor. A recent study concluded that if a person experiences whiplash during a car accident, they increase the risk of have jaw pain or dysfunction. These symptoms are often delayed, occurring within the year following the car accident according to a press release issued by the American Dental Association.

The conclusion comes from a study conducted by researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, who studied the jar pain of 60 patients who were involved in rear end collision car accidents. They then followed up with the patients, evaluating them for possible jaw pain a year later.

The resulting study, which was published in the August issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association, concluded that 34 percent of the study's participants developed jaw pain, compared to 7 percent of the participants in the control group.

The American Dental Association says that the joint that makes up the jaw, called the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), is one of the most complicated joints in the human body. The complexity of the joint is largely attributed to the complexity of the movements that the human jaw must be able to create.

When one of the ligaments, discs, bones, or muscles that make up the temporomandibular joint cannot perform the required movement correctly, painful jaw problems often result. However, unlike the symptoms of whiplash, the jaw problems were not immediate.

"One in three people who are exposed to whiplash trauma, which induces neck symptoms, is at risk of developing delayed TMJ pain and dysfunction during the year after the accident," one of the Umeå University researchers stated in a press release.

The results of the study indicate that whiplash victims may continue to experience pain as a result of the car accident, even during times when the incidents may seem unconnected. According to the study, temporomandibular joint pain could be very disruptive to a participant's life.

Patients in the Umeå University study who displayed symptoms of whiplash were also asked to rate any jaw pain that occurred. The pains reported could disrupt a study participant's daily life, and caused sleep disturbances and the use of pain relievers. Some participants were forced to take sick leave from work as a result of their condition.

The study could not only add doctor's in diagnosing the cause temporomandibular joint pain, but also encourage victims of car accidents to carefully monitor themselves for any signs of this painful condition.

SOURCES:

American Dental Association "Whiplash may produce delayed jaw pain" Eurekalert. URL:( http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/ada-wmp081607.php)