Jaw pain: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission Here’s our process.

Healthline only shows you brands and products that we stand behind.

Our team thoroughly researches and evaluates the recommendations we make on our site. To establish that the product manufacturers addressed safety and efficacy standards, we:

• Evaluate ingredients and composition: Do they have the potential to cause harm?
• Fact-check all health claims: Do they align with the current body of scientific evidence?
• Assess the brand: Does it operate with integrity and adhere to industry best practices?

We do the research so you can find trusted products for your health and wellness.

Read more about our vetting process.

Was this helpful?

Jaw pain can be a debilitating condition that affects your ability to eat and speak. The treatment can depend on the cause and the severity, but it can range from using an ice pack to lifestyle changes, medications, and in some cases, surgery.

Many things can cause jaw pain, from your sinuses and ears to your teeth or jaw itself. This means it can be difficult to tell if your jaw pain is because of a jaw issue or something else.

That said, once you get an accurate diagnosis, you can start the right treatment. Read on to learn about the causes of jaw pain and the possible treatments.

Most jaw pain is due to an abnormality or injury to the joint of your jaw, but there are other possible causes as well. Here are some of the causes of jaw pain:

1. Temporomandibular joint and muscle disorder (TMD)

TMDs are the most common cause of jaw pain, affecting nearly 10 million Americans. TMD is also sometimes known as TMJ. The temporomandibular joints are the hinge joints on each side of your jaw.

Several things can cause TMD jaw pain. It’s also possible to experience TMD due to several causes at the same time. Causes of TMD include:

• pain from the muscles that control jaw movement
• injury to the jaw joint
• excess stimulation of the jaw joint
• a displaced disc that usually helps cushion the movements of the jaw
• arthritis of the protective disc that cushions the jaw joint

Damage to the jaw joint or the muscles that control your jaw movement can be caused by several factors, including:

• grinding your teeth at night
• involuntarily clenching your jaw due to stress and anxiety
• trauma to the jaw joint, such as getting hit in the face while playing sports

There are also less common causes of jaw pain. These include:

2. Cluster headaches

Cluster headaches typically cause pain behind or around one of the eyes, but the pain can radiate to the jaw. Cluster headaches are one of the most painful types of headache.

3. Sinus problems

The sinuses are air-filled cavities located close to the jaw joint. If the sinuses become infected with a germ, such as a virus or bacterium, the result can be an excess of mucus that puts pressure on the jaw joint, causing pain.

4. Tooth pain

Sometimes severe tooth infections known as dental abscesses can cause referred pain that radiates to the jaw.

5. Trigeminal neuralgia

Trigeminal neuralgia is a condition that’s most commonly caused by nerve compression on the trigeminal nerve that provides sensation to a large portion of the face, including the upper and lower jaws.

6. Heart attack

A heart attack can cause pain in other areas of the body besides the chest, like the arms, back, neck, and jaw. Women in particular may experience jaw pain on the left side of their faces during ­a heart attack. Call 911 immediately and ask to be taken to the hospital if you experience the following symptoms:

• chest discomfort
• shortness of breath
• sweating
• nausea
• feeling faint

For immediate relief

Apply moist heat or ice packs: Place ice in a plastic bag, wrap it in a thin cloth, and apply it to your face for 10 minutes. Then take it off for 10 minutes before reapplying it. Another option is to run warm water over a washcloth, then apply it to your jaw area. The moist heat can relax overactive jaw muscles and relieve pain. You may have to re-wet the washcloth several times to maintain the heat.

You can also purchase heat or ice packs at a pharmacy or online. However, they should be covered in cloth at all times, or they could burn your skin. If it feels too hot or too cold, remove it.

Keep reading: How to make a cold compress »

Over-the-counter pain relievers: Medicines like ibuprofen and acetaminophen may help to reduce discomfort.

Massage the affected joint: Using your index and middle finger, press the sore areas of your jaw, such as the area right before your ear where your jaw joints meet. Rub in a circular motion for 5 to 10 rotations, then open your mouth and repeat the exercise. Massaging the muscles on the side of your neck may also help relieve tension.

Here’s another massage technique you can try to relieve your jaw pain (tap the arrows to see all four videos):

Video via Adam Leavens, RMT, BCSI

Lifestyle strategies to reduce jaw pain long-term

Stress reduction: Try stress-relieving techniques to reduce jaw clenching. These could include:

• yoga
• journaling
• meditation

These activities may help you reduce your jaw pain if it’s caused by stress.

Avoid chewy foods: Foods that are chewy, tough, or crunchy can place too great a strain on your jaw joint and lead to pain and discomfort later. Foods to avoid include:

• apples
• beef jerky
• chewing gum
• ice

Avoid caffeine: Your morning cup of joe could be contributing to your muscle tension, which can be increased by caffeine. Avoiding large amounts of caffeinated coffee and tea may help reduce your jaw pain over time, but you may initially feel muscle tension from caffeine withdrawal when cutting it out of your diet.

Medical treatment

Most doctors will first recommend non-invasive treatment methods for your jaw pain. If you still have jaw pain after trying these methods, you should talk to your dentist. You may need further interventions to find relief for your pain.

Mouthguard: A mouthguard is a plastic dental protector worn on your upper or lower teeth that’s custom-fitted for your mouth. Although you can purchase one at a pharmacy, a dentist will make you one that may fit better and last longer. Wearing one at bedtime can help stop you from unconsciously grinding your teeth.

Muscle relaxers: If your pain doesn’t respond to the mouthguard, your dentist may prescribe muscle relaxers to relieve jaw tension. However, these don’t always help people with TMD.

Botox injections: More invasive treatment methods include Botox cosmetic injections. When injected into the jaw muscles, the botulinum toxin found in Botox may keep your jaw muscles from clenching, possibly helping to relieve jaw pain due to TMD. These injections will last for months at a time and may require re-injection later.

Jaw surgery: In very rare instances, a doctor will recommend jaw surgery to correct TMD problems. This treatment is usually reserved for people with severe pain and pain that’s due to structural problems in the jaw joint.

Read more: Does Botox help treat chronic migraine? »

More Than Jaw Pain | NIH News in Health

September 2020

Print this issue

TMJ Disorders Explained

En españolSend us your comments

Your jaw works hard every day so you can laugh, talk, smile, and eat. When it’s working properly, you may not give it much thought. But if your jaw starts to hurt, it can take the joy out of simple, everyday things.

The jaw joint is one of the most complex joints in the human body. For most people, it moves effortlessly up and down, side to side, and in and out, transitioning from one movement to the next seamlessly. But, more than 10 million people in the U.S. live with jaw pain and dysfunction.

Doctors call these conditions temporo-mandibular disorders. They’re more commonly called temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders.

“Temporomandibular disorders—and how people respond to them—vary widely,” explains Dr. Dena Fischer, a dental health expert at NIH. “For example, some experience discomfort, others tension, and still others severe pain.”

Some people get symptoms in the muscles that move the jaw. For others, it’s in a disc within the jaw joint that’s damaged. You can also develop arthritis, or joint inflammationHeat, swelling, and redness caused by the body’s protective response to injury or infection.. You can even have more than one kind of disorder at the same time.

TMJ disorders sometimes start after an injury. But for most people, there’s no obvious cause. In addition to pain, other symptoms can include stiffness, limited jaw movement, painful clicking or popping in the joint, or changes in the way the teeth fit together.

If you have any of these symptoms, talk with your health care provider. To diagnose a TMJ disorder, they’ll ask you questions about your symptoms and examine your head, neck, face, and jaw. They’ll also check your dental and medical history. They may use imaging tests, like X-rays, too.

Experts recommend starting with simple, self-care practices for jaw pain (see the Wise Choices box for tips). “For a lot of people, the pain will resolve over time,” Fischer explains. “Your doctor may also recommend trying a bite guard. These are plastic splints that fit over the teeth.”

Sometimes, TMJ disorders can become chronic—causing pain or discomfort that lasts more than three months. Aggressive treatments include surgery, splints that change the bite, and even adjusting or removing teeth. But whether these treatments help hasn’t been scientifically studied, explains Fischer.

For some people, they may make things worse. “And once you have surgery, you can’t put things back the way they were before,” she says.

If you have symptoms that last more than three months, your dentist or health care provider may refer you to a specialist. Doctors who specialize in muscles and bones, arthritis, pain, and the nervous system may be able to help.

But better treatments are needed. NIH-funded researchers have been studying the role that genesStretches of DNA you inherit from your parents that define features, like your risk for certain diseases. play in who develops a TMJ disorder and how long it lasts. In a large study, researchers identified several genes that are more common in people who have severe jaw pain. They’re now testing whether early treatment can help people with certain genes lower their risk of developing a chronic disorder.

“We hope that having a better understanding of why temporomandibular disorders develop will ultimately help us prevent them and find new treatments,” Fischer says.

Note: The title of this article was changed after publication.

NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison
Building 31, Room 5B52
Bethesda, MD 20892-2094
nihnewsinhealth@od. nih.gov
Tel: 301-451-8224

Editor: Harrison Wein, Ph.D.
Managing Editor: Tianna Hicklin, Ph.D.
Illustrator: Alan Defibaugh

Attention Editors: Reprint our articles and illustrations in your own publication. Our material is not copyrighted. Please acknowledge NIH News in Health as the source and send us a copy.

For more consumer health news and information, visit health.nih.gov.

For wellness toolkits, visit www.nih.gov/wellnesstoolkits.

Why does the lower jaw hurt? 【Reasons and what to do】

Often, patients come to the dentist with complaints of pain in the lower jaw. In this case, discomfort can occur on both the right and left sides. The pain itself can be short-term, long-term, mild or intense.

However, these symptoms may not always indicate a problem with the teeth. Therefore, the specialist conducts a thorough examination of the dentoalveolar system in order to accurately establish the diagnosis. It is this approach that helps to prescribe the correct treatment for one of the many diseases that can be caused by severe pain in the lower jaw.

Content

Our specialists

Povtar Vladimir Vladimirovich

Experience – 4 years

Yunaeva Stella Vladimirovna

Experience — 22 years

Orlova Olga Alexandrovna

Experience — 19 years

Andrey Albertovich Pastyan

Experience — 22 years

Malamuzh Oleg Sergeevich

Experience — 25 years

Andrey Zhukov

Experience — 22 years

Solovyov Mikhail Alexandrovich

Experience — 23 years

Radko Oksana Yurievna

Work experience — 18 years

Seek medical advice from a dentist or oral surgeon to determine the source of the problem. The reason for the appearance of unpleasant symptoms can be various reasons. Almost all of them need urgent treatment, since the further development of the pathology will lead to consequences that negatively affect the health of the body.

Often, an acute purulent process passes from periodontal tissues to the jaw bone, the periosteum of the alveolar process, and also to nearby soft tissues. Pain occurs in the following diseases:

• Periostitis . The state of health worsens, the temperature rises and swelling of the soft tissues appears. At first, soreness and swelling are not very pronounced, but over the next 3 days they increase. The pain may radiate to the eye, ear and temple. When exposed to heat, the intensity of symptoms increases, while cold, on the contrary, reduces them.
• Osteomyelitis . In the acute stage, the temperature rises to 39–39.5 °C. Chilliness, profuse sweat for several days or only at night. Putrid odor from the mouth. The tooth that has become the source of infection is mobile, the gum becomes bluish. When pressing on the alveolar process, pus is released. From the side of the cheek and tongue, subperiosteal abscesses are formed.
• Lymphadenitis . In the acute stage, one or more lymph nodes located in the lower jaw become painful. They increase, acquiring a rounded or oval shape. With the development of a purulent process, the state of health worsens, the temperature rises to 38 ° C. Above the enlarged lymph node, the skin is edematous and hyperemic. There may be pain when swallowing, yawning, and opening the mouth.
• Abscess . If the purulent focus is located next to the masticatory muscles, then this limits chewing and provokes pain when opening the mouth. When localized under the tongue and the peripharyngeal space, it is painful for the patient to swallow. Often, an abscess occurs against the background of a satisfactory condition of a person.
• Phlegmon . The clinical picture of the disease depends on the number of foci of infection. With a common process, diffuse swelling of the soft tissues of the face and neck is observed. In the affected area, hyperemia and an increase in local temperature are observed. It becomes difficult for a person to open his mouth, chew, swallow, talk and even breathe. There is a significant intoxication of the body and body temperature 39°C. ^[1]

Severe pain in the lower jaw inevitably results from a bruise or fracture. The most common injuries are from fights, traffic accidents, and falls. If only a bruise has occurred, then the closure of the teeth is not disturbed, however, there may be swelling of the tissues, leading to asymmetry of the face.

With a fracture, a person experiences a sharp throbbing pain that becomes stronger when trying to close his teeth, bite and chew food, and talk. There may be numbness in the chin and lower lip. There is mobility of teeth, malocclusion. A bone fragment of the jaw may protrude from the mucosa.

In addition to the factors described above, neuralgia can cause aching pain in the lower jaw. Symptoms appear when the trigeminal nerve is damaged, namely its third branch, which innervates the mandibular region. Attack-like, shooting pain can last from a few seconds to one minute.

Over time, the intervals between attacks become shorter. Burning, cutting and shooting pains are intensified, compared by patients with an electric shock. Sensations arise spontaneously, when the ambient temperature changes or when touched. Often, the pain radiates to the teeth, which leads the patient to the dentist’s office. ^[2]

Three pairs of large salivary glands are located directly in the region of the lower jaw. These are sublingual, parotid and submandibular. Accordingly, with the development of inflammation in them, soreness and swelling are observed in this zone.

For example, with salivary stone disease of the submandibular gland, the patient may experience a typical symptom – “salivary colic”, which occurs when the duct of the gland is blocked. Also in this area, swelling is formed under the influence of a food irritant, which after a while disappears on its own. [3]

In bruxism, the patient has involuntary clenching of the jaws with intense friction and grinding of the teeth at night. The day type of the disease occurs under the influence of stress and anxiety. As a result of the pathological process, an overload occurs in the maxillofacial system, which leads to pain in the TMJ (temporomandibular joint of the lower jaw). The opening of the mouth is limited, the pain may radiate to the ear and teeth when yawning. [4]

One of the most common causes of sharp pain in the lower jaw is the teeth. When an infection enters the pulp chamber, the dental nerve becomes inflamed. This process causes a sharp paroxysmal throbbing pain that may appear spontaneously. Often the symptoms make themselves felt at night.

In the absence of timely treatment, the infection penetrates beyond the apex of the root and a dental disease such as periodontitis develops. In the acute stage, there is swelling of the surrounding tissues, pain when pressing the tooth and when chewing. A fistula may form on the gum.

It is not uncommon for patients to have problems with their wisdom teeth. The third molars erupt later than the rest and they almost always lack space. Trying to get out, the figure eight can put pressure on adjacent teeth, on bone tissue and the mucous membrane above it. At this point, the patient complains that the lower jaw hurts on the right or left, depending on the location of the tooth. [5]

Odontogenic and non-odontogenic neoplasms can cause pain. At the same time, benign tumors are more common than malignant ones and are characterized by less pronounced growth. These include:

• Ameoblastoma . More often localized in the body, angle and branches of the lower jaw. For a long time, the formation does not bother a person until the deformation of the bone tissue begins, accompanied by pain. A bulge is formed in the mouth in the region of the transitional fold, while the mucosa does not differ in color from the surrounding tissues.
• Fibroma . An odontogenic tumor forms inside the bone, is characterized by slow growth and painlessness. However, when it reaches an impressive size, it leads to deformation of the face and causes aching pain in the lower jaw.
• Myxoma . The tumor does not have a shell, destroying bone tissue, it gradually spreads to soft tissues. Teeth in the area of ​​myxoma acquire mobility due to resorption of the roots, because of this they can be displaced.
• Cement . A benign process originates in the region of the tooth root, while the growth of cement-like tissues with varying degrees of mineralization occurs. The deformation on the face has a rounded shape and clear boundaries.
• Odonogenic cyst . The cavity has a shell of connective tissue with liquid contents. With the growth of the root cyst, the cortical plate becomes thinner and the bone bulges. Also, with the gradual melting of bone tissue, a pathological fracture of the lower jaw can occur. ^[6]

In addition to the above reasons, an attack of angina pectoris can also cause pain, when the patient’s blood circulation in the arteries of the heart is disturbed. In addition to the characteristic symptoms, which include dull, squeezing or tearing pain, fear of death, heaviness in the chest and lack of air, the patient may feel that his lower jaw is aching. In this case, the duration of the attack lasts no more than 15 minutes. ^[7]

To determine the sharp pain in the lower jaw, the dentist or maxillofacial surgeon determines the cause of the symptoms. In some cases, for additional examination, the doctor refers to a neurologist, cardiologist or other specialists. The doctor conducts a survey, examines the applicant and, depending on the indications, prescribes a number of instrumental and laboratory tests, which may include:0003

• radiography – the method helps to determine the localization, nature and extent of pathology in the bone tissue using a two-dimensional image;
• computed tomography – the method allows you to determine the state of the bone and study the neoplasm in all projections;
• magnetic resonance imaging – used to diagnose cysts, compression of the branch of the trigeminal nerve, aneurysm;
• electrophysiological study – using electromyography, muscle activity is detected in bruxism, as well as the quality of impulse transmission in neuralgia. Electroneurography is used to determine the extent of damage to the nerve trunk;
• invasive methods – to determine the nature of the neoplasm and the contents of the purulent focus, a biopsy and puncture are performed;
• tests – are prescribed to determine the causative agent of the disease in order to select the necessary drugs for treatment.

After the doctor has found out the reason why the lower jaw hurts, he prescribes therapeutic or surgical treatment. The purpose of the prescribed procedures is to eliminate the disease in the most effective way and restore the health of the patient.

Conservative therapy in dentistry is the elimination of the source of infection with the help of instruments and medicines. With pulpitis, the doctor removes the inflamed nerve from the tooth and performs mechanical and antiseptic treatment of the canals, followed by their filling. With periodontitis, the same treatment is carried out, but to eliminate the infection behind the top of the root, an anti-inflammatory paste is introduced into the canals before permanent filling.

If other pathologies occur, the following methods are used:

• muscle relaxants and physiotherapy for bruxism;
• splinting of jaw fragments in case of fractures;
• antibiotic therapy in the inflammatory process;
• pain relief and corrective therapy for neuralgia;
• drug restoration of cardiac activity in coronary artery disease.

The choice of surgery depends on the diagnosis and stage of the disease:

• tumors – excision of pathologically altered tissues;
• injuries – bone grafting and suturing of soft tissues;
• neuralgia – dissection of soft tissues that put pressure on the nerve;
• inflammatory processes – they open and empty the focus of infection;
• coronary heart disease (CHD) – thrombolysis, stenting of the heart artery, bypass surgery.

In the absence of proper treatment of a disease that causes pain in the lower jaw on the left or right side, dangerous complications can develop. As a result, the pathologies that have arisen can threaten not only health, but also human life.

For example, the further development of osteomyelitis causes dangerous pathological conditions such as meningitis, brain abscess and kidney failure. And inflammation in the temporomandibular joint leads to its complete immobility, as a result of which the patient cannot eat and speak normally.

In order to prevent the development of dangerous diseases that cause severe pain in the lower jaw, it is necessary to follow several important recommendations:

1. Strengthen the body’s immune system.
2. Come for a routine checkup to the dentist twice a year.
3. Treat diseases that can lead to the development of dangerous pathologies.
4. In the presence of chronic diseases, regularly see a doctor and prevent relapses.
5. Regular and proper care of the oral cavity – this will be taught by the dentist in an individual hygiene lesson.

In the network of our clinics in Moscow, doctors are attentive to the health of patients. Therefore, if you experience acute pain in the lower jaw, you will be accepted, despite the generated record. Specialists will urgently diagnose and provide first aid if you experience the following symptoms:

• breaks the lower jaw;
• toothache and swelling has formed;
• there was pain when chewing, and a fistula formed in the gum area.

Turning to us, you get high-quality and safe treatment, as well as painless performance of all manipulations. In dentistry, modern anesthetics are used, which begin to act already at the time of injection.

Free consultation

Ask questions by phone +7 (495) 150-27-16 or leave a request, we will call you back within a business day.

What is your name

Phone number

By clicking the “Register” button, I agree to
processing of my personal data
according to c

Close

Application sent to

, thank you for your interest. Our manager will call you back within 15 minutes.

Close

• ^[1] Kulakov, AA Surgical stomatology and maxillofacial surgery: National guidelines / Ed. A. A. Kulakova, T. G. Robustova, A. I. Nerobeeva. – Moscow: GEOTAR-Media, 2015. – 928 p. (Series “National Manuals”) – ISBN 978-5-9704-3727-8. Link to resource.
• ^[2] Kulakov, AA Surgical stomatology and maxillofacial surgery: National guidelines / Ed. A. A. Kulakova, T. G. Robustova, A. I. Nerobeeva. – Moscow: GEOTAR-Media, 2015. – 928 p. (National Manual Series) – ISBN 978-5-9704-3727-8
• ^[3] Lastovka AS, Tesevich LI Salivary stone disease. – 2014. Link to the teaching aid.
• ^[4] Orlova OR et al. Relationship between bruxism and pain dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint //RMJ. – 2017. – T. 25. – No. 24. – S. 1760-1763. Link to the domoment.
• ^[5] Stephen Ho, MD; Daisy Chemali, MD; Bogdan Kryshtalsky: Maxillofacial surgery – pain in the wisdom tooth. Link to resource.
• ^[6] Kulakov, AA Surgical stomatology and maxillofacial surgery: National guidelines / Ed. A. A. Kulakova, T. G. Robustova, A. I. Nerobeeva. – Moscow: GEOTAR-Media, 2015. – 928 p. (Series “National Manuals”) – ISBN 978-5-9704-3727-8.
• ^[7] Kalinin, R. E. Ischemic diseases in the practice of a family doctor / R. E. Kalinin [et al.]; ed. R. E. Kalinina, V. N. Abrosimova – Moscow: GEOTAR-Media, 2016. – 208 p. – ISBN 978-5-9704-3660-8.

• Why does the gum hurt around the wisdom tooth?
• Why does the cheek swell?
• How a dental nerve is removed

Questions and answers

Ask a question

✅ Hello! Please tell me which specialist should I contact if I do not live in Moscow? Spasm of masticatory muscles – teeth gnash, pain in the lower jaw, especially in the corners of the closure of the upper and lower jaws. The mouth does not open wide, there is a risk that it will not be possible to close it. During eating, the jaw makes an unpleasant sound of clenching and lays in the ears from this sound. Which doctor can help in this situation? I live in Novosibirsk.

Based on the symptoms you describe, it can be concluded that you have a temporomandibular joint problem caused by bruxism – involuntary, strong clenching and grinding of the teeth. To eliminate the hypertonicity of the masticatory muscles, pain, crunch in the jaw and limitation of its mobility, contact a gnathologist dentist. If you cannot find a specialist in Novosibirsk, then you can contact our gnatologist if you are visiting Moscow.

✅ Why does the angle of the lower jaw hurt when pressed?

There may be several reasons for this situation. For example, pain when pressed occurs with: an inflammatory process in the bone, with damage to the nerve and joint of the lower jaw, with the eruption of a wisdom tooth, as well as with other diseases of the surrounding tissues. To determine the exact cause of the problem and eliminate it in a timely manner, make an appointment with our dentist.

Ask a question

Leave your question and we will forward it to a competent specialist

What is your name

Email mail (will not be published)

Phone number (optional)

By clicking the “Submit” button, I agree to
processing of my personal data
in accordance with the Policy
privacy

Question sent successfully

, we will forward your question to a specialist and provide an answer on this page. Please note that due to the large number of questions and the workload of doctors, the response time has been increased. Bookmark this site so you don’t miss a reply.

Close

The article was checked by an expert

Klimovich Victoria Borisovna
Qualified specialist in the field of orthodontics, maxillofacial surgery and aesthetic restoration of teeth, work experience – 11 years

Rate the quality of the page:

181 votes, 3. 1 out of 5

Jaw hurts – why does the jaw hurt from below or above

Pain is a universal protective reaction of the body, signaling health problems. Pain in the jaw can be caused by both dental pathologies and diseases of other organs and systems.

Dental problems

Dental diseases

With deep caries and its complications – pulpitis, periodontitis – the pain radiates to the jaw in the area of ​​the affected tooth.

Infectious and inflammatory processes of the soft tissues surrounding the tooth – periodontitis, abscess – cause swelling, which, squeezing the nerve endings, provokes the appearance of pain in the jaw.

With increased sensitivity of the teeth, the intake of hot, cold, spicy, sour or sweet foods and drinks, brushing the teeth cause acute pain that spreads to the jaw.

When teething third premolars – wisdom teeth – complications often arise: pericoronitis, inflammation of the periosteum, one of the symptoms of which is severe pain in the jaw.

Dental treatment procedures associated with violation of the integrity of tissues – implantation, prosthetics, tooth extraction, fillings, professional cleaning and teeth whitening – contribute to the appearance of pain in the jaw.

Bruxism

With bruxism, nighttime involuntary grinding of the teeth significantly increases the load on the masticatory muscles, which leads to their prolonged spasm. In this case, the correct occlusion of the dentition is disturbed with the development of pain in the jaw during chewing.

Temporomandibular joint problems

If there is pain in the jaw when opening the mouth, this is a symptom of the pathology of the temporomandibular joint.

Pain in the projection of the jaw is often accompanied by pain in the ear, head, face. The causes of dysfunction of the joint are injuries, malocclusion, incorrectly installed prostheses, arthritis, arthrosis, and hypertonicity of the masticatory muscles.

Tumors of the lower jaw

Pain in the jaw area is characteristic of benign and malignant neoplasms. Benign tumors are characterized by slow growth, lack of germination in neighboring tissues and organs.

Malignant neoplasia progresses rapidly, pain intensifies with irradiation to the eye, temporal region, ear, jaw.

Non-dental causes of jaw pain

Neuralgia

With the defeat of the trigeminal nerve, which is responsible for the sensitivity of the face and oral cavity, the pain is strong, sharp, reminiscent of pain in pulpitis. Often, patients with trigeminal neuralgia undergo unreasonable dental treatment with depulpation or extraction of teeth, but the pain syndrome persists.

Sialolithiasis

Salivary stone disease is characterized by the formation of stones in the ducts of the major salivary glands. Since the salivary glands are located in the mouth, the pain during their inflammation also affects other adjacent organs of the oral cavity, in particular the jaw.

Sinusitis

With inflammation of the mucous membrane of the maxillary cavity, increasing swelling and accumulation of exudate cause pain that spreads to the region of the upper jaw from the side of the affected sinus.

Otitis

Sometimes the symptoms of otitis media are similar to toothache. With inflammation of the middle ear, pain often radiates to the jaw. Pain – sharp, shooting, aggravated by chewing and swallowing.

Submandibular lymphadenopathy

An increase in submandibular lymph nodes is observed in diseases of the tonsils, SARS, stomatitis, oncological neoplasms. Pain under the jaw is often accompanied by a limitation in the range of motion – it is difficult for the patient to tilt and turn his head, open his mouth wide.

Diseases of the cardiovascular system

Irradiation of pain in the lower jaw can be observed with an attack of angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. A characteristic symptom of coronary heart disease is a burning, pressing pain behind the sternum. But with an atypical course of a heart attack, chest pains may be completely absent, only reflected pains come to the fore: in the left arm, in the neck, in the face, in the jaw.

Diagnostics

With pain in the jaw, the patient first of all seeks the advice of a dentist.

Dental examination includes the following steps.

• Clarification of patient complaints and history taking. Since the main complaint is pain in the jaw, the time of its appearance (at night, during the day), the nature of pain (acute, dull, pulsating, aching), duration (constant, paroxysmal) are specified.
• Examination of the oral cavity with an assessment of the condition of the mucous membrane, tongue, gums, determination of the type of bite.
• Examination of the surfaces of all teeth using a probe and mirrors, identifying the integrity of the dentition, detecting defects in the hard tissues of the teeth.
• The percussion method determines the complications of caries.
• Thermodiagnosis is used to detect pain reactions.

To clarify the diagnosis, instrumental examinations are carried out

Orthopantomography (OPTG) is a type of X-ray examination, which presents a picture of the entire dentoalveolar system at once: the state of the bone tissue of the jaws, the quality of the fillings, the presence of inflammatory processes around the roots of the tooth, neoplasms in the area of ​​​​the bones of the facial skeleton and other pathologies.