Numerous reasons can cause a painful jaw. It can cause mild discomfort or more severe pain, affecting your quality of life.
This guide explains more about jaw pain, its possible causes, how it is diagnosed, and treatments that could help you.
Understanding Jaw Pain
Jaw pain can cause stiffness in your jaw joints, which are called temporomandibular joints. These joints hinge your lower jaw to your skull and allow it to move freely and comfortably from side to side and up and down when they work properly.
If these joints cannot operate properly, your jaw can be uncomfortable or painful when you open or close your mouth. This is a condition called trismus.
When you have jaw pain on one side, it can be a sign of temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). In this case, you may experience jaw pain on your left side or jaw pain on the right side.
Some people find their jaw aches continuously. For others, the pain is intermittent, or it can feel throbbing.
What Can Cause Jaw Pain?
One of the most common causes of jaw pain is TMJ, but it can be due to other factors, including:
- Teeth grinding and clenching (bruxism). Grinding your teeth can damage your jaw joints and facial muscles, causing pain. This issue is often related to stress.
- Tooth abscess. An abscess causes a pocket of pus to build up around the tooth in the jawbone and can cause jaw pain.
- Gum disease. Advanced gum disease can destroy your jawbone, resulting in a painful, aching jaw.
- Arthritis. Your jaw joints can become inflamed by arthritis or will begin to break down.
- Infection. A severe bacterial infection like sinusitis or tetanus can cause jaw pain.
- Poor bite. If your teeth are misaligned and cannot bite together properly, it puts pressure on your jaw joints and can cause pain.
- Old or failing dental restorations. When dental restorations get older or are poorly designed, they can affect your bite, causing misalignment problems.
When Is Jaw Pain a Serious Problem?
Sometimes, an aching jaw is a sign of a more serious problem, such as a jaw injury where you might have dislocated or broken your jaw. It could also be a symptom of a heart attack, as jaw pain during a heart attack can spread from your chest to your jaws. Our general dentistry services can help identify and address underlying dental issues contributing to jaw pain.
In these cases, it is a medical emergency, and you must go to your nearest emergency room for immediate treatment.
If you have persistent and severe jaw pain or cannot open your mouth, seek emergency dental care or see your healthcare provider urgently.
Understanding the Symptoms of Jaw Pain
When you have a painful jaw, it can cause other symptoms, including the following:
- A jaw that makes a clicking or popping sound when you open or close your mouth.
- Pain or tenderness during chewing or while speaking.
- Your jaw may have a limited range of motion.
- TMJ problems sometimes cause earache.
- TMJ and bruxism can cause chronic headaches or facial pain.
- Your facial muscles may feel swollen, sore, and inflamed, especially around your jaw joints.
Diagnosing Jaw Pain
Contact our dental office for a consultation if your jaw feels painful and sore. When you visit Clock Tower Dental, our dentist will examine your jaws and assess your symptoms. We will check how your teeth bite together and how far you can move your jaw comfortably.
Diagnostic tests help us assess any damage to your jaw joints and to check for signs of inflammation. We also check for signs of infection in your teeth or sinus cavities. Diagnostic tests may include a cone beam CT scan and digital dental x-rays. Both tests are quick, non-invasive, and entirely painless.
The results of our dental exam and your tests allow us to determine the reason for your jaw pain and suggest a treatment plan to relieve pain and discomfort.
Jaw Pain Treatments
Jaw pain can be complex to treat, so we may recommend trying several different treatments to achieve the best results. These treatments may include:
Anti-Inflammatories or Muscle Relaxant medication
Anti-inflammatory drugs can help relieve pain and inflammation in jaw joints, making you feel more comfortable. Muscle relaxants can help reduce tension in your jaw. These could include therapeutic Botox injections or corticosteroid injections to relax the action of muscles that clench your jaws together.
Antibiotics
If you have an infected tooth, we may prescribe antibiotics to help eliminate the infection.
Night Splint
Bruxism is frequently a nocturnal habit that can cause terrific damage to your teeth and jaw joints. A custom-made night splint is an easy and effective treatment. It will normally fit over your upper teeth, preventing them from contacting your lower teeth and reducing pressure in your jaw joints.
Therapeutic Jaw Massage and Jaw Exercises
Gently massaging your jaw joints can help relieve stress and tension and improve blood flow. We can also show you some stretching exercises to help relax and strengthen your jaw muscles so it becomes more comfortable to move your jaws.
Restorative Dentistry
Aging or ill-designed restorations like crowns and bridges can be replaced with properly designed restorations. Using these restorations to realign your bite can reduce jaw pain.
Orthodontics
We may suggest orthodontics if your bite cannot be corrected with restorative dentistry. Straightening teeth and jaws can help relieve TMJ problems. Additionally, straightening your teeth may improve dental health.
Dietary Advice
Choosing softer foods that require little or no effort to chew can allow your jaw joints to relax and recover. Modifying your diet may be useful while we explore other options to relieve your jaw pain.
Surgical Intervention
Oral surgery may be required if you have severe problems with your jaw joints. Generally, we would suggest trying other solutions first before opting for surgery. For your comfort, sedation dentistry can be used to ensure a stress-free and painless experience during the procedure.
Home Remedies for Jaw Pain
Generally, we would recommend a professional dental evaluation for jaw pain, but there are some home remedies you can try as well. These can include:
- Using ice packs or moist heat to help relieve swelling and inflammation.
- Practicing meditation or using other stress reduction techniques. This can be useful if stress is likely causing bruxism.
- Avoiding habits that place stress on your jaws, like chewing gum.
Can I Prevent Jaw Pain?
The best prevention strategy is to practice good oral care and to schedule regular dental exams where we can assess your oral health closely and check for any signs of problems like bruxism that could cause jaw pain.
It is also useful to ensure you take appropriate steps to protect your teeth and jaws during activities where you could take a blow to the mouth. If you like to play sports, ask us about a custom mouthguard.
Is Your Jaw Sore or Painful?
We can help. Contact Clock Tower Dental to arrange your consultation and learn more about the treatments to relieve jaw pain.