How Your Jaws Work
Johnson Dental
Your jaw joints are surrounded by groups of muscles that contract and relax so you can open and close your mouth, talk and chew. When they are flexible and not under stress, they work in harmony with the other parts of your jaw. Your TMJs (temporomandibular joints) are where your upper jaw and lower jaw meet. Like the gears of a car, the joints have moving parts that allow the lower jaw to move. This lets you open and close your mouth.
The TMJ is a sliding ball and socket joint, whose parts should work smoothly when you open and close your mouth.
Muscles surrounding the joint control its position and allow your mouth to open and close.
Your bite is more likely to be stable when the muscles and joints work together properly.
Next: TMJ Disorders
Posted on: Monday, July 21, 2008 at 10:21 am 
TMJ. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.