A broken jaw may look swollen, bruised, uneven, or shifted after an injury. The most important clue is often not the outward appearance but a bite that suddenly feels wrong: your teeth may no longer meet as they did before. Pain when chewing or speaking, trouble opening or closing the mouth, bleeding inside the mouth, loose teeth, and numbness of the lower lip or chin are also important signs of a possible jaw fracture. A broken jaw—usually a fracture of the lower jawbone, or mandible—requires urgent medical assessment. Some fractures are not visibly obvious, while swelling can hide a change in facial shape. A clinician needs to examine the injury…