If the pain relief is taken for an extended period of time, it may negatively affect the person while talking, eating, drinking, etc.

Symptoms of a dislocated jaw include a bite that feels “off” or abnormal, difficulty talking or moving jaw, not able to close mouth completely, drooling due to not being able to shut mouth completely, teeth feel they are out of alignment, and excruciating pain [6] The immediate symptom can be a loud crunch noise occurring right up against the eardrum.

[citation needed] Short-term symptoms can range from mild to chronic headaches, muscle tension or pain in the face, jaw and neck.

[citation needed] Long-term symptoms can result in sleep deprivation, tiredness/lethargy, frustration, bursts of anger or short fuse, difficulty performing everyday tasks, depression, social issues relating to difficulty talking, hearing sensitivity (particularly to high pitched sounds), tinnitus and pain when seated associated with posture while at a computer and reading books from general pressure on the jaw and facial muscles when tilting head down or up.

[citation needed] In contrast, symptoms of a fractured jaw include bleeding coming from the mouth, unable to open the mouth wide without pain, bruising and swelling of the face, difficulty eating due to the constant pain, loss of feeling in the face (more specifically the lower lip) and lacks full range of motion of the jaw.

The muscles that are affected during anterior jaw dislocation are the masseter and temporalis which pull up on the mandible and the lateral pterygoid which relaxes the mandibular condyle.

[8][9] Posterior, superior and lateral dislocations are uncommon injuries and usually result from high-energy trauma to the chin.

Commonly, plain and panoramic X-ray radiographies are used to determine the relative position of the mandibular condyle.

For superior jaw dislocation in particular, serious intracranial complications such as epidural hematoma are possible and must be recognized and managed to prevent disability or even death.

Therefore, neurological status has to be examined in patients with complex dislocations involving temporal bone fractures.

[9][14] It was reported from one study that over a seven-year period at an emergency medical site, with 100,000 yearly visits, there were only 37 patients that were seen for a dislocated jaw.