During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in his assesment of the symptom: Jaw swelling. These may include a physical examination or other medical tests. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor may help them with their diagnosis.
Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:
Why: to determine if acute or chronic.
Why: bilateral jaw joint pain may be more suggestive of rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthrritis.
Why: may suggest fractured jaw or dislocated jaw.
Why: may indicate cause of jaw swelling or possible Actinomycosis infection of the jaw joint which causes localized swelling of the lower jaw.
Why: some medical conditions may affect the temporomandibular joint e.g. osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis; Sjogren's syndrome may be associated with many systemic conditions such as Raynaud's phenomenon, difficulty in swallowing (as seen in systemic sclerosis), painful joints (like that seen with systemic lupus erythematosus), thyroid disease, myasthenia gravis, primary biliary cirrhosis, chronic active hepatitis, renal diabetes insipidus, renal tubular acidosis and vasculitis.
Why: if alcohol abuse may indicate alcohol associated parotitis.
Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. These may include:
Why: may suggest referred pain from dental caries, gingivitis, oral tumors or alveolar abscess.
Why: e.g. pain felt over the jaw joint and localized to the region of the ear but may radiate forwards to the cheek and even the neck; pain and limitation of jaw movements especially on opening the mouth, clicking and crackling in the jaw joint with movement.
Why: e.g. dry eyes, dryness of the mouth, skin or vagina; enlargement of the salivary and parotid glands (just in front of the ear). This syndrome may be associated with many systemic conditions such as Raynaud's phenomenon, difficulty in swallowing (as seen in systemic sclerosis), painful joints (like that seen with systemic lupus erythematosus), thyroid disease, myasthenia gravis, primary biliary cirrhosis, chronic active hepatitis, renal diabetes insipidus, renal tubular acidosis and vasculitis.
Why: e.g. joint pain, swelling, deformity and morning stiffness. It may also cause a number of systemic symptoms including carpal tunnel syndrome, anemia and enlarged spleen.
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