Symptoms

Symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are usually mild and temporary and typically do not get worse with time. Common symptoms include:

• Joint pain when the jaw is moving, as when opening the mouth widely, chewing, or yawning. Such pain can occur:
  • Usually on one side of the jaw, but it can be on both sides.
  • Either gradually or suddenly, as when biting down on something hard or following a blow to the jaw.
• Muscle pain or tenderness in the face, ear, head, neck, or shoulders.
• Headaches. In children with TMDs, headaches are often related to grinding the teeth (bruxism).
• Clicking, popping, cracking, or grating that is painful and occurs when opening the jaw (may be a sign of disc displacement). Clicking or popping noises without pain are common and do not require treatment.
• The jaw locking in an open or closed position or not opening wide (disc displacement). If the jaw locks for more than a few moments, a muscle spasm usually follows.

See a picture of areas typically affected by TMD pain.

Sometimes pain around the ear, with pressure or ringing in the ears (tinnitus), develops with TMDs. Some people with these symptoms report that they also have hearing loss, although test results show that their hearing is normal.

Symptoms often go away on their own. And they may recur over time without getting much better or worse. Occasional discomfort in the jaw joint or chewing muscles is quite common and usually is not a cause for concern. But for some people symptoms can be very painful, disabling, and last a long time.