Differentiating Causes of Jaw Pain

By Thiago Nascimento

Experiencing jaw pain can be confusing and uncomfortable, often leaving you wondering about the underlying cause. Where do you go for help?

Since effective treatment hinges on accurately identifying the source, understanding how healthcare professionals differentiate between various potential issues is crucial. This article explores the process of diagnosing jaw pain, outlining the common categories of causes, and explains how specialists, like Orofacial Pain experts, use a method called differential diagnosis to pinpoint the specific reason for your discomfort. This will guide you towards the right treatment path.

• Assessing Jaw Pain Symptoms Helps to Differentiate Probably Causes
  • TMDs can be categorized by two general groups
  • Three basic groups of probable jaw pain causes
• What is a Differential Diagnosis for Jaw Pain?
• How do TMJ Specialists Evaluate Jaw Pain?
• What is Jaw Pain an Indicator Of?
• MN Head & Neck Pain Clinic Leads in Evidence-Based Diagnosis of Jaw Pain
• CONCLUSION: Clarity on Jaw Pain Causes Leads to Effective Treatment

Too often TMJ patients are misdiagnosed, often because the symptoms are similar to other conditions, and many healthcare professionals may not have sufficient training on TMJ. The wide-ranging symptoms of TMJ can easily be attributed to other ailments, leading to delayed or incorrect diagnosis of what’s causing your jaw pain.

TMDs can be categorized by two general groups:

1. Those that affect the TMJ itself (intraarticular).
2. Those that involve chronic pain in the masticatory tissues surrounding the joint.

Assessing Jaw Pain Symptoms Helps to Differentiate Probably Causes

A certified Orofacial Pain Specialist can carefully evaluate pain location, intensity, and related factors. They can narrow down the potential diagnoses and guide appropriate treatment. Pain providers at the Minnesota Head & Neck Pain Clinic may use symptom assessment aids in differentiating jaw pain causes. Here is how we evaluate it.

Three basic groups of probable jaw pain causes:

1. Muscle Strain/Fatigue: The most common cause and can be presented with aching or soreness in the jaw, pain that worsens with chewing, talking, or yawning, difficulty opening or closing your mouth fully, jaw feeling “tired” after chewing or speaking for long periods.
2. TMJ irritation and Inflammation: Clicking or Popping Sounds – Noise when opening/closing the mouth or grinding sensations in the joint, Swelling and Tenderness – Inflammation may cause visible swelling, Locking of the Jaw– The jaw may momentarily “stick” in an open or closed position.
3. Nerve Damage: Facial nerve pain is not common, but is possible, especially with lower molar extractions. Patients usually experience numbness or tingling (“pins and needles” sensation in the affected area), burning Sensation (sharp, shooting, or burning pain in the jaw, face, or gums), altered sensation (a feeling of thickness or swelling in the tongue or lips, even if no swelling is present, increased or decreased sensitivity to temperature or touch).

Other conditions like sinus infections and even certain systemic diseases can also be culprits.

Headaches can also be associated with TMD. Many individuals with TMD also report headaches, particularly in the temples, forehead, or behind the eyes. These headaches are often tension-type but can sometimes mimic migraine-like pain.

When you seek professional help for why your jaw hurts, you may hear that you need a differential diagnosis.

What is a Differential Diagnosis for Jaw Pain?

Jaw pain can stem from various causes, requiring a differential diagnosis. Your family physician, dentist, or ENT may use this term, when recommending a referral to our specialized pain clinic. In healthcare, a differential diagnosis is a method of analysis that distinguishes a particular disease or condition from others that are present with similar clinical features. ^[1]

To differentiate jaw pain due to temporomandibular joint disorder from other causes, TMJ specialists or an orofacial pain provider are most qualified.

How do TMJ Specialists Evaluate Jaw Pain?

A quick summary of diagnosing the cause of TMJ jaw pain includes:

1. Listening to and feeling your jaw when you open and close your mouth.
2. Watching the range of motion in your jaw.
3. Pressing on areas around your jaw to find sites of pain or discomfort. ^[2]

This initial examination helps to determine if the source of your jaw pain is a dental problem. If you learn that TMD is the likely cause of your jaw pain, then it helps to gain a foundational understanding of TMD.

TMJ Dysfunction: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction, also known as temporomandibular disorder (TMD), refers to a group of conditions that cause pain and dysfunction in the jaw joint and surrounding muscles. Temporomandibular disorders are a heterogeneous group of conditions. ^[3]

What is Jaw Pain an Indicator Of?

Your pain may be due to a mix of factors, including unconscious habits such as teeth clenching, excessive gum chewing, nail biting from stress.

Multiple painful conditions often occur along with TMJ disorder; such as:

• Central sensitization issues.
• Fibromyalgia.
• TMJ-related osteoarthritis.
• Trigeminal Neuralgia.
• jaw tissue injury.

MN Head & Neck Pain Clinic Leads in Evidence-Based Diagnosis of Jaw Pain

Our clinic participates in national research to educate and establish evidence-based diagnosis and treatment for TMJ.

Better education and alignment on how to differentiate causes of jaw pain will benefit patients like you. Stories of undiagnosed-yet-significant jaw scar tissue and joint degeneration from injuries are too common. Here is one example:

“The ER doctor did not conduct any significant examination… which exemplifies the separation between medicine and dentistry. What the ER doctor and I failed to realize that day was that I had hit my head so hard that the impact had caused bleeding and cartilage damage inside my jaw joints, and lack of early intervention led to a lifetime of pain and dysfunction that changed my life.” – Bergman ^[4]

One of our clinic founders helped bring national awareness of limited insurance coverage for TMJ care. TMD surgery is appropriate for few patients, but typically conservative care for jaw pain is the better option. While many TMJ patients can be treated by orofacial pain specialists for a few thousand dollars, a lack of awareness means that “patients will assume that insurance companies know what they’re doing. If that’s all that’s covered, what do you think they are going to get? Surgery,” according to James Fricton DDS, MS on CBS news. ^[5]

Tony Schwartz, president of the American Board of Orofacial Pain talked about the need to update how insurance companies and some dentists cling to “old, debunked theories” that TMJ disorders are caused by misaligned teeth or a bad bite. Different treatments are required for different causes. For example, a dental issue may require a differentjaw pain treatment. than a TMJ problem, and both are different from addressing a sinus infection.

The great news is that the Minnesota Head & Neck Pain Clinic. has one of the largest teams of specialists who are regarded among their peers for accurately diagnosis jaw pain. Many people delay or never gain professional help diagnosing TMJ. You can be among those who have the best of care to help learn the probable cause of your jaw pain.Many people delay or never gain professional help diagnosing TMJ. You can be among those who have the best of care to help learn the probable cause of your jaw pain.

“About half to two-thirds of those with TMJ disorders will seek treatment. Among these, approximately 15% will develop chronic TMJD,” according to the National on Dental and Craniofacial Research on Facial Pain.

CONCLUSION: Clarity on Jaw Pain Causes Leads to Effective Treatment

Now that you know identifying the precise cause of jaw pain is essential for successful treatment, call us.

Request your Differential Diagnosis for Jaw Pain

 

About the Author

Thiago Nascimento, DDS, MMedSc, MS, is an Orofacial Pain Specialist. He has a master’s degree in Neuroscience and Orofacial Pain and a postdoctoral fellowship in pain neuroimaging. He has experience in the diagnosis and treatment of TMD, Orofacial Pain Disorders, and management of Sleep apnea with oral sleep appliances.

 

Resources

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_diagnosis

[2] Eric Schiffman, et al., “Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) for Clinical and Research Applications: Recommendations of the International RDC/TMD Consortium Network* and Orofacial Pain Special Interest Group,” June 2024, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4478082/

[3] National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research editoral staff, “TMD (Temporomandibular Disorders),” Updated Feb 2025, https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-info/tmd

[4] Chrissy Booker, “Disjointed: Vancouver dentist advocates for integrated health care after experiences with chronic jaw pain,” April 2025, https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/jan/11/disjointed-vancouver-dentist-advocates-for-integrated-health-care-after-experiences-with-chronic-jaw-pain/

[5] Anna Werner, et al., “How TMJ’s out-of-pocket costs drive patients into “a bottomless pit” of debt, July 2024, “https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-tmj-costs-drive-patients-into-debt/