A woman has gone viral on TikTok after her jaw locked open, and an orthodontist has explained what to do if it happens to you.
Jenna Sinatra was on the way home from the gym when she yawned as normal, and suddenly realised she couldn’t close her mouth.
Woman’s jaw locks open
In a viral video which has had more than 65 million views, the woman filmed herself going to the Emergency Room because her jaw was stuck. Her mouth is visibly wide open and she is unable to close it while walking through the hospital.
People are freaking out in the comments, with one person writing “Omg what do they do for it? I would panic” and another adding: “I literally have nightmares about this happening to me”.
The condition is called lockjaw, which occurs when the mandible bone moves in front of another bone called the articular eminence and is not able to slide back and close your jaw, orthodontist Dr. Sable Staller explained on TikTok.
In the video, doctors injected some muscle relaxant into the woman’s cheek, which slowly returned her mouth back to normal – but this isn’t always necessary.
What to do if your jaw locks
In some cases, medical attention is needed, however the orthodontist explained that most of the time, you can unlock your jaw at home.
To do this, ask another person to hold their hands either side of your mouth with their thumbs on each of your back molars. They need to push down, and then back up towards the throat.
“The reason why you push down is so that you can jump that articular eminence and then it can slide back, and then your jaw can close again,” she said.
That should cause your jaw to slip back into place. However, if it doesn’t or if you are in severe pain, you should visit a hospital.
Watch the orthodontist demonstrate the manoeuvre:
TMJ vs Tetanus
A locked jaw is usually caused by a temporomandibular disorder (TMD), a condition affecting the movement of the jaw that usually gets better on its own without treatment, the NHS explains.
It can cause pain around your jaw, ears and temples, clicking, popping or grinding noises, headaches, difficulty opening your mouth and in the most severe cases, jaw locking.
However, a locked jaw can also be a sign of tetanus, a serious, life-threatening condition caused by bacteria getting into a wound.
Tetanus is rare, but the chances of getting it are higher if you have not been fully vaccinated or have a large, deep or dirty wound.
Symptoms include a stiff jaw, painful muscle spasms, difficulty breathing, swallowing problems, a high temperature, sweating, a fast heartbeat and seizures.
If you suspect yourself or somebody else has tetanus, you must seek help as it is a medical emergency that needs to be treated immediately in hospital.
Dr. Sable Staller (DDS, MS) is a qualified orthodontist based in New York who gained her dentistry degree and master’s in orthodontics from Indiana University Indianapolis.
