TMJ. Locked Jaw. HELP.?

You do have TMJ (aka TMD) and you will need to find a dentist who knows how to treat TMJ (not all do) to make a splint for you to wear 24/7 that will decompress the joint so that there will be room for the disk to pop back into place on its own. Sometimes you can maneuver your jaw around to get the disk back into joint but the problem is, once your teeth come together again (which will be unavoidable) the disk will dislocate again and will become locked out again. That is why you need to see a dentist. As long as the jaw clicks and pops that means the articular disk is able to get back into joint. But when the noises stop that means the disk is locked out. TMJ always gets worse over time, never better. The reason why you cannot open wide is when the articular disk becomes dislocated, it acts like a doorstop to prevent the lower jaw from opening more than a few millimeters. Once the disk pops back into place, you will be able to open wide again. Without treatment, the TMJ will NOT heal itself in the locked position but you will be unable to open wide for variable lengths of time depending on when the disk pops back into place. Avoid oral surgeons and traditional orthodontists in your search for someone to treat you, trust me. In the meantime, do not chew gum and avoid hard to chew foods.