Don’t Ignore Jaw Pain: Complete Guide to Causes, Symptoms & Emergency Treatments

Jaw pain is a very common presenting complaint of many patients.

Causes of Jaw pain

• Dental Causes: Tooth cavities, Tooth fracture or abscess, Gum infections are the most common cause of jaw pain.
• Trauma to jaw bone: A broken/dislocated jaw as a result of trauma is another common cause of jaw pain.
• TMJ conditions: TMJ disorders encompasses a long list of disorders that may be responsible for pain in the TMJ area (area of face just in front of the ear). It may be due to trauma, infection, wear and tear, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, some cancerous growth and even bruxism (habit of night grinding of teeth). 
• Neuralgic pain: Radiating pain in the jaw might be a sign of trigeminal neuralgia.
• Angina Pain: Pain of angina also radiated to the left lower jaw.

Other conditions

Some other conditions that may give rise to jaw and facial pain include 

• stress, fatigue, and a lack of sleep
• salivary gland disorders
• autoimmune conditions, such as lupus
• obstructive sleep apnea
• fibromyalgia
• sinusitis
• ear infections

Symptoms

The specific symptoms of jaw pain will vary depending on the underlying cause.

The symptoms usually include:

• facial pain, may be localized or radiating to face, head and even neck.
• Tenderness particularly over the area of TM joint
• Lock jaw or a limited range of motion of lower jaw
• Pain on wide opening of the mouth
• Deviation of jaw on one side on mouth opening
• Inability to close the mouth properly
• clicking or popping sounds when opening or closing the jaw
• Tingling in the ears
• earaches
• headaches along with dizziness
• pain that ranges from a dull ache to a sharp, stabbing sensation
• toothache
• tension or other headaches
• nerve-type pain, such as a burning sensation
• facial swelling

Diagnosis and Treatment

Sometimes diagnosis can easily be made based on presenting symptoms. 

At times blood tests, CT and even MRI may be needed to arrive at a definitive diagnosis.

Similarly, treatment is purely based on identifying the underlying cause.

• Dental issues might need fillings and RCTs.
• TMJ issues are sometimes managed conservatively by rest to the joint and hot fomentation. At times bite splints might also be needed.
• Arthritis needs to be managed by medicines and even steroids.  

Consult a Specialist

Most jaw pain with a non-serious etiology would go away in a week. Consult a specialist if

• Pain persists more than a week
• home remedies do not improve jaw pain
• Pain is severe enough to need daily pain killers
• Jaw doesn’t close up properly
• the jaw starts making a clicking or popping sound when moving
• pain occurs in the neck or upper back
• they have eye pain, vision changes, or headaches
• tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, occurs alongside jaw pain
• accompanying dental problems, such as broken or decayed teeth
• there is swelling accompanied by fever