Jaw Clicking, Locking or Pain: Normal, Treatable or Urgent?

You yawn in a meeting and your jaw pops so loudly you glance around to see who heard. Or you bite into an apple and something catches near your ear. Or you wake up one morning and your mouth opens about halfway, then stops.

Those three moments are very different, and they call for very different responses. Most jaw noises are nothing to worry about. A few jaw problems need care today. Here's how to tell which is which, starting with the most common and working toward the most urgent.

Is jaw clicking normal?

Often, yes. Plenty of people have a jaw that clicks or pops and never have any trouble with it. According to the U.S. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, painless clicking doesn't need treatment.

If your jaw clicks but doesn't hurt, opens normally and lets you eat what you want, you can reasonably leave it alone. Trying to force the click away, or testing it over and over, tends to give an irritated jaw more to complain about.

One thing a click can't do is diagnose itself. You may read that clicking means a slipped disc inside the joint, but a sound alone can't establish that. A definitive diagnosis of a problem inside the joint needs imaging such as CT or MRI, and most people with a painless click have no reason to pursue it.

Jaw pain, stiffness and catching: treatable

This is where most people who come looking for help land. It might be:

• An ache in the cheek, temple or just in front of the ear
• Soreness that builds as you chew or that's there when you wake up
• A click that has started to hurt
• A jaw that catches now and then, then frees up
• Stiffness that makes a wide yawn or a big sandwich feel like a project

These symptoms often fall under temporomandibular disorders, or TMD, a group of common problems affecting the jaw muscles and joint. They often settle, and simple measures are the place to start: softer food for a while, a break from gum, a warm or cold pack, and noticing whether your teeth are clenched during the day.

If the pain lasts, keeps coming back or limits what you do, it's worth having it looked at. For jaw pain of three months or more, a 2023 guideline in The BMJ strongly recommends supervised jaw and postural exercise, hands-on therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy. The research has limits, which we go through in TMJ treatment: what the research supports.

When it started with a car accident

Jaw symptoms sometimes turn up after a collision, often weeks into dealing with a sore neck. In a small body of research, a median of 23% of people with whiplash reported TMD pain, compared with 3% of people without. If that sounds familiar, mention your jaw at your next appointment, since it's easy to overlook next to everything else. Our guide to the first six weeks of whiplash recovery covers the neck side. Jaw problems and concussion can occur together after a crash too, and it helps for whoever is treating you to know about both.

When your jaw won't open: closed lock

A closed lock means the jaw gets stuck partway open and won't go further, and it can be painful. Some people have had clicking that then stops around the time the opening becomes limited, though that history alone doesn't settle what's happening.

A jaw that suddenly won't open, or that opens less and less over time, needs a prompt assessment by a dentist or physician. Other causes need ruling out, including infection, especially if you have a fever. Don't force it open with your fingers. Once anything serious has been excluded, physiotherapy may be one of your options for working on movement and pain.

When your jaw won't close: open lock

This is the one to act on right away. If your mouth is stuck open and you can't bring your teeth together, the jaw may be dislocated. It might follow a huge yawn, a long dental visit or a blow to the face. It's frightening, and it's also a problem emergency clinicians see.

Go to urgent care or an emergency department. Don't try to push it back yourself. Putting a dislocated jaw back in place needs a physician or other suitably qualified clinician, and physiotherapists don't do this. A dentist or physician can also advise on follow-up afterward, including whether physiotherapy has a role later.

Other red flags that need a doctor or dentist

These aren't common, and having one doesn't mean something serious is going on. They do mean a physiotherapy appointment shouldn't be your first step.

• Same day: jaw aching that builds as you chew and eases with rest, especially with a new headache or vision changes, because it can signal giant cell arteritis
• Same day: fever along with a jaw that won't open
• Same day, or 911 with chest discomfort or breathlessness: jaw pain that comes on with exertion
• Promptly: a sudden or worsening inability to open your mouth, or a change in how your teeth meet
• Promptly: a new lump in your face or neck, numbness, weakness or other neurological symptoms, or unexplained weight loss
• Promptly: new facial pain with a history of cancer, or jaw symptoms while taking a bisphosphonate

A blow to the face followed by a bite that feels wrong also needs medical attention, since a fracture has to be ruled out. And if the pain seems to sit in one tooth, or your gum is swollen, start with your dentist.

Where physiotherapy fits, and where it doesn't

Physiotherapy suits the middle group: jaw pain, stiffness and catching where nothing urgent is going on. An assessment looks at how your jaw opens and moves, what your neck is doing, and which habits might be feeding the problem. It's also a way of finding out that your click really can be left alone, which is a useful answer in itself.

Treatment may include exercise, hands-on work on the muscles and joint, and practical changes at home. Hands-on work may be outside the jaw or, where appropriate and with your consent, inside the mouth. We can't promise a particular result, and if your symptoms suggest you need a dentist or physician first, we'll tell you.

Getting your jaw checked in Burlington

We offer TMJ physiotherapy at OMNI Health and Rehab, 960 Cumberland Ave in Burlington, with physiotherapists Juhi Israni and Devanshi Patel. A first visit is 60 minutes and follow-ups are 30. You don't need a referral to see a physiotherapist in Ontario, although some plans ask for one before they'll reimburse, and we direct bill to most extended health plans.

This article is for educational purposes and doesn't replace an assessment by a qualified health professional.

If your jaw sits in that middle group, you can read about TMJ physiotherapy at OMNI or book a first visit whenever it suits you.