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Is TMJ the Cause of Your Jaw Pain While Opening Mouth or Chewing?

Published on

April 15

2025

About the Author

Table of contents

1. Introduction

2. What is Temporomandibular Joint or TMJ Pain?

3. Symptoms of Jaw Pain While Chewing Due to TMJ Issues

4. How to Know if Jaw Pain while Opening Mouth is not TMJ Pain?

5. How to Manage Jaw Pain at Home?

6. When to Visit a TMJ Specialist?

7. Diagnoses and Treatment Plan for Jaw Pain

8. Conclusion

Introduction

Persisting jaw pain can be a real menace if you do not know the exact underlying cause. It may interfere with your day-to-day activities like chewing or speaking leading to aggravated jaw pain while opening mouth. Let us go further to see who the real culprit to these issues is.

What is Temporomandibular Joint or TMJ Pain?

Before understanding how we get TMJ pain, let us understand what TMJ is. It is a hinge that connects the lower jaw to the skull and any damage to this joint or muscles leads to TMJ disorders. These disorders are a combined set of symptoms however, the exact cause of these issues cannot be determined. A few factors like stress, genetics, trauma, or arthritis are contributing factors for jaw pain while opening the mouth and other TMJ issues.

Symptoms of Jaw Pain While Chewing Due to TMJ Issues

Jaw pain while chewing or merely opening the mouth is a classic case of TMJ disorders. Some common signs include-

Jaw locking or limited jaw movement
Jaw popping
Jaw misalignment
Pain radiating in the face, mouth and surrounding muscles
Neck pain and stiffness when trying to move
Headaches

How to Know if Jaw Pain while Opening Mouth is not TMJ Pain?

While TMD is a usual cause of jaw pain while eating or opening the mouth, there may be other factors causing it.

Infections may cause inflammation of sinuses leading to jaw pain.
Dental issues like tooth decay, gum diseases, teeth misalignment or pus can also be the reason for jaw pain.
Muscle tension due to stress and anxiety also is one of the factors.
Arthritic conditions like osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis may also affect TMJ causing jaw pain while chewing or opening mouth.
A condition affecting trigeminal nerve known as trigeminal neuralgia also leads to jaw pain.

How to Manage Jaw Pain at Home?

If you experience jaw pain and continues for a day or two, try these home remedies and see if the condition gets better.

Maintain good posture as it may help relieve the pressure in your jaw area, giving you relief immediately.
Practice relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing or yoga to maintain stress and muscle tension.
Applying external heat or cold compress to the affected area for 15 to 20 minutes in a go will help reduce the jaw pain while opening mouth.
Eating soft foods and temperature regulated foods will ease your discomfort as hard, crunchy or extreme heat or cold foods will aggravate the discomfort.

When to Visit a TMJ Specialist?

If your jaw pain persists while chewing, speaking or opening and closing your mouth, even after following self-medication at home, you must consult an orthodontist or a dentist. Do not wait if you have other symptoms like fever, swelling or inflammation in your jaw area. They will rightly diagnose the cause of your jaw pain while opening your mouth and suggest the appropriate treatment plan.

Diagnoses and Treatment Plan for Jaw Pain

A Neuromuscular orthodontist or a Neuromuscular dentist will generally perform a physical exam and understand your history of symptoms to diagnose your jaw pain while opening mouth. The doctor may recommend further tests like X-ray, CBCT or MRI imaging tests to get a closer look at your TMJ problems.

Further, the treatment for the TMJ pain depends on the underlying cause, ranging from approaches like-

Self-medication as mentioned above to be followed at home
Trigger point injections into specific muscular points to relieve pain
Using prescribed dental splints (precise Neuromuscular Orthotics) or night guards (Sleep Appliances) can help with jaw pain and teeth grinding problems
Electrical nerve stimulation for muscle relaxation

Conclusion

If you contemplate if it is just a tooth ache, it may just not be a simple jaw pain, but the beginning of a TMJ problem. Now that you are equipped with information on how to detect if it is a TMJ issue while having jaw pain while opening mouth, you can take appropriate steps. Jaw pain while eating or opening your mouth can be disruptive and may also be a cause for other possibilities including TMJ.

Consult a dentist or a TMJ specialist for accurate diagnoses, and one such clinic that house the best dentists is TMJ India. Early intervention can be a boon and so book your appointment with us today!

To treat the most complex of TMJ problems, contact us at TMJ India and get your appointment with our TMJ experts today!

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