I have heard horror stories about people having teeth removed because they were painful. But the problem is that the teeth were innocent!
After the tooth or teeth were pulled, the people still had tooth pain. The teeth were removed but the original cause of the pain wasn’t treated.
There is a strap-like muscle that attaches your lower jaw to your upper jaw. It allows you to chew and clench your teeth. It is called the massater. There is one on each side of your face.
When the massater develops trigger points (hyper-irritable areas of muscle that cause pain) it feels like the pain is in your teeth!
If you have pain on the top and bottom teeth on one whole side of your mouth there is a very good chance that the massater muscle is to blame.
Here’s the treatment:
- Place your thumb on the inside of your cheek on the painful side. Place your index finger on the outside of your cheek. Reach toward your jaw joint with finger and thumb.
- When you clench your jaw you will feel the massater become hard or pop out if you are back far enough. Relax your jaw and ‘pinch’ the massater between your thumb and index finger.
- Search around for tender areas. Hold the pressure on the tender areas for about 12 seconds. If an area doesn’t seem to be relaxing, it’s okay to leave it alone for a few minutes and go back to it later.
- Search the whole massater from back to front and from where to attaches to the lower jaw to the upper jaw.
Sometimes the massater is the only cause of your ‘tooth pain’. Sometimes a few other muscles are involved and may be causing your jaw pain. Those other muscles are in your neck on the same side and on the sides of your upper head.
The temporalis muscle on the sides of your head can also cause you to feel ‘tooth pain’ that really isn’t in your teeth. It is a referral from a trigger point in that muscle.
A tooth infection can also cause trigger points in the massater.
But most often what feels like a tooth infection or painful cavity is actually the result of trigger points in your jaw muscles.
By doing this simple form of massage–pinching your jaw muscle and looking for tender points to hold–you may be able to get rid of the pain in your jaw and teeth naturally.
My neck muscles get so tight that I have very limited motion when they flair up. The muscles feel like steel cable and hurt when I rub them. The strange thing is, recently, every time I massage my neck muscles one of my teeth (the same one every time) on my upper jaw hurts like I have a cavity. I didn’t make the connection until I read this article that me massaging my neck may be causing the tooth pain. My tooth won’t hurt for days at a time and has been driving me crazy because it’s a crown and I had a root canal in the tooth years ago.
Hi Phil,
It sounds like you are having referred pain into your tooth. Makes me wonder if you needed the root canal in the first place. Probably so, but it just makes me wonder.
Here’s what’s going on with your neck muscles. They are getting tight as a way of complaining. That’s how muscles get our attention.
They are complaining either about your posture or a position that you use. When your head moves forward in front of your body instead of sitting up on top of your spine, that creates a lot of muscle stress.
The poor muscles are trying to hold up your head. That’s not their job; that’s the job of bones. So the neck muscles work too hard and get tight.
Is there an answer? Yes. Typically, if you correct the posture or position that aggravates your neck muscles that will help. That may mean learning new ways to move or sleep or watch television. It may mean no more slouching. It means creating a strong back side all the way from your knees to your skull. If you search, you can find articles to help you do that simply at http://SimpleStrengthening.com
You see, Phil, if you strengthen the muscles on the whole back side of your neck, body and thighs (not calves) that will help you hold your head in a more neutral position and cause less strain on your neck muscles.
Take care,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Katy I would like your opinion on some things involving my own pain and teeth. There are definitively similarities here with this guy. I need to speak to someone knowledgeable and you do seem to be so that would be great.
Hi Randy, Thank you for your two comments. Posture can definitely play a part in “teeth pain.” It turns out there are Neuromuscular Dentists, too, who look at posture and positions instead of just “fixing” painful teeth but there aren’t too many of them. If you go to the About page, you’ll see that you can contact me at Kathryn (at) Simple Pain Relief (dot) com. Just write it like a regular email address. Also, even though you didn’t specifically mention back pain, I’m betting that’s part of the issue. Please go to SimpleBackPainRelief.com for more upper back pain relief info.
Take care,
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Katy I would like your opinion on some things involving my own pain and teeth. There are definitively similarities here with this guy. I need to speak to someone knowledgeable and you do seem to be so that would be great. And I think the guitar made my posture much worse over time and I barely can even do that without too much pain so I don’t do it often
Hi Randy, Thank you for your two comments. Posture can definitely play a part in “teeth pain.” It turns out there are Neuromuscular Dentists, too, who look at posture and positions instead of just “fixing” painful teeth but there aren’t too many of them. If you go to the About page, you’ll see that you can contact me at Kathryn (at) Simple Pain Relief (dot) com. Just write it like a regular email address. Also, even though you didn’t specifically mention back pain, I’m betting that’s part of the issue. Please go to SimpleBackPainRelief.com for more upper back pain relief info.
Take care,
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Finding this at 3am in agony saved me!
Hi Zoe,
You are welcome! Glad to help. And on the off chance that it comes back too soon, then you will have to consider that it may be an abscess or infection and see a dental specialist. But I hope that was that and now the pain in your jaw is gone.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi
This is so true. I was in a great amount of pain. I went to dentists, doctors and still nothing until one doctor suggested a chiropractor. Omg he saved me. It was painful and the pressure he applied with his thumb made me cry but 4 sessions later I was pain free. So today its happened again after 4 years and will try and treat myself as he showed me how to do it, if not back I go.
Hi Teresa,
Thank you for sharing your experience. Bodies are so smart but sometimes they just need a little help.
You are fortunate that you found a chiropractor who apparently worked with muscles like that. When he pressed into the muscle, it caused discomfort because the muscle was tight. But when it released–your jaw pain was gone! 🙂
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi, I have a real bad tooth ache and my jaw hurts as well. I don’t have money to go to the dentist and was wondering what I could do for the pain and my ear is starting to hurt as well.
Hi Krystal,
I’m not a dentist but here are a couple of suggestions:
Is there a dental school around you? The student-dentists need people to practice on and the fee to be checked and treated is very small compared to a dentist.
Also, some dentists might take payments over time or even give you a reduced fee if you explain your situation and ask if they can give a reduced fee.
If the tooth is infected it won’t get better on its own. The pharmacist at a drugstore may be able to point you to an over the counter medication that you can put on the tooth to reduce the discomfort. Also, I’m thinking that clove oil may be something to look into that might be useful for toothache. I hope this helps you with your tooth pain and wish I could offer more help.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Here is an article about clove oil: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/remedies-clove-oil-for-tooth-pain/
Have had moderate discomfort in my teeth on one side of my lower jaw. It’s fine in the morning after sleeping on my stomach all night, then late afternoon my front teeth start hurting, then when I sit in a recliner chair, the rear teeth hurt.
Occasionally it feels like the jaw, sometimes the teeth, sometimes even under the jaw. I recall quite an intense neck pain 2 months ago that passed quickly. I think the teeth/jaw pain has happened since then? My dentist replaced a sensitive filling on that side, and said the root looked fine. Another dentist took a very fuzzy xray and wanted to do a root canal and crown.
All the pain seems to be related to posture. When I am away from my recliner chair and not slouching, all seems to be well. It’s a real shame because I love slouching in a chair:)
Would physio on my neck help??
Cheers
Pete
Hey Pete,
You put your finger on the source of your jaw pain. 🙂 And I’m sure you know in your heart that slouching is not good for your muscles, your body, your organs, your bones or your posture. But if it didn’t bother your jaw you could do a little slouching from time to time.
There are muscles in your neck, under your jaw, and on the sides of your head that will cause jaw pain and pain that feels like it’s in your teeth.
Physiotherapy would help if it is aimed at helping you get a strong neck and back and great posture with a strong back. It would help if it’s geared to helping you stretch the front of your body and regain the natural curve in your low back.
Did you know that head/jaw pain can be related to the lower back? You see, all of the muscles act together. The problem is not just in your neck.
Based on the variation of tooth pain, I suspect muscles. Muscles are affected by poor posture. Perhaps you can find a different position to slouch in? I hope you will take the steps (or chair) to help you get natural relief from the pain in your teeth.
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi. I have bulging discs in my neck from a previous rear-end hit and run auto accident. The occipital nerve had bone over it for three years, until properly diagnosed and moved by a good chiropractor. I believe I have residual soft tissue injuries. However, my right side of my jaw doesn’t open as far as my left, and the muscles are very tight and painful. If I rub into the joining area on outside between jaw and ear, there is cartilage (?) cracking type sounds. When I sleep I must adjust my head to the left between 10-50 times each night, with some relaxation/relief with each cracking movement. It will feel very tight and become painful if I do not adjust my neck in this movement – this is upon lying down – left side – my preferred sleeping side is worse . The good chiropractor is over 300 miles away. I try to take MSM/chondroiten/collagen and Hyuralonic Acid each day – with the new addition of glucasamine. The inside of my mouth along gum line varies in sensitivity. The jaw joint area inside my mouth has some very swollen tissues and gives me a gag reflex of pure pain when pressed. I have sensitivity on right outer teeth area, as well as inside area of gum around teeth. Will this pressure point be effective on most sensitive tissue? What is the best process to go back to most painful area. When I do your exercise my right side of jaw will open more – to be closer to my left opening. (as measured by my thumbs placed inside mouth by jaw hinge. I appreciate any help!
Hi Lisa,
The bulging disks in your neck can move back to their correct place when the muscles that are tight and that pull on them are relaxed or released. Often people just have the muscles on the back side of the neck treated but you also have muscles on the front side of your neck spine. The front muscles also need treatment. Here’s how:
You can treat both sides of your neck yourself by doing thoughtful slow, gentle rocking movements with your head. First, put your head and neck in the most comfortable position you can manage. Next, start tilting your chin toward your chest. Then, lift your chin toward the ceiling. These movements only have to be teeny tiny. After your neck gets used to moving in this way you can make the movements larger, a little at a time. This is the ‘yes’ movement.
You can also do movements in thoughtful, gentle, slow rotations where you turn one ear closer to your mattress. This is the “no” movement–side to side. Don’t push–just see how far you can turn your head comfortably and rest there for a few seconds. Go back to neutral position (nose up.) Then do the other side.
You can also do a thoughtful, slow, gentle (see the pattern?) movement of your ear toward your shoulder. DO NOT PUSH THIS ONE especially! It’s just a reminder to your neck that it can move in lots of different ways.
The cracking noises in your jaw may be the disk in the joint moving when you rub it. The disk in the jaw is the only one in the whole body that can regenerate itself. It can actually get back to the correct position with a little work.
The swollen areas are most likely tight muscles. They can be REALLY painful when pressure is applied. Start closer to your lips. In fact, you can press all of the tissue between your lips and gums to start. Areas that are most sensitive deserve a little more time. When the area between your fingers starts feeling less tender that means it is relaxing. Move on to the next area. It may take about 12 seconds to relax.
Keep moving closer and closer to the painful area. Here’s a variation on the two-finger pinch: Support your cheek on the outside with the palm of one hand. Use one finger on the inside of your cheek to press toward the supporting hand.
You are doing a good job of measuring your progress by checking the opening space with your thumbs. Stacked fingers work, too.
Since your jaw is attached to the rest of your body, it’s important that your posture be very good. Strengthening your back side from knees to head is an easy way to get better posture. Stretching the front of the body, especially arms and chest helps, too.
Here’s an easy little movement to help reduce your jaw pain and get more circulation in the neck and jaw:
Put your lips together. Don’t let your teeth touch. Pretend you are chewing.
It would be beneficial if you can train yourself to sleep on your back. Our preferred sleeping sides often don’t work so well when we have neck issues (speaking from experience.) Use a small neck roll. You can make your own with a batt of fiberfill. Just roll it to your specifications and cut it and put it in a pillow case. Viola! Instant neck roll! Cheap, too. 🙂
You can also use cold packs on your neck before bed or in bed or anytime. Cold is the best treatment for most folks to help muscles relax and is also the best drug for nerve pain.
Remember, bodies heal all the time! That means jaws and necks, too. I would love to know how you are coming along. Write to kathryn at simple pain relief dot com as a regular email address.
I think these self-help movements and treatments will help you start getting rid of the pain in your jaw naturally.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
I just want to say my thanks to you for helping me out of this weird teeth pain! Yes, teeth, because the pain is in ALL of my teeth on the right side of my mouth. Usually, if a tooth is really tender, when I clench my teeth it should be painful–but none of my teeth were. So I did some research and I found your site. Now I just feel like my front teeth needs to bite on something–probably because I was over-massaging my gums earlier, but the pain is gone!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Hi Jylcie,
Thank you for writing about your success getting rid of the pain in your teeth. Did you see this article yet? http://simplepainrelief.com/2011/12/03/jaw-pain-can-be-caused-by-temple-muscles/ If not, please do because this may also be part of your jaw or tooth pain. It has a picture of the temple muscles that also cause “weird teeth pain.”
There are also muscles on the underside of your jaw (press upward from under your jaw, between your jaw bone and throat to look for tender areas.) If it’s your two bottom front teeth that will be where that sensation comes from.
Good job taking care of yourself! Now you know more than most doctors and dentists about this cause of tooth pain! 🙂
Take care,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Thank you so much! Idid the two finger thing and it seems to have taken away the pain. I had gone earlier to my dentist…and he said it wasnt my teeth allthough it felt like it! I carry stress on my neck so thanks also for the neck exercise direction. You are awesome!!!!!
Hi Nancy,
You are very welcome! I’m glad you took action and got rid of the pain in your jaw.
You are awesome, too!
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Dear Pain Relief Coach,
On April 19, 2012 I woke up in pain with lock jaw. I had no warning. I tried sacral cranial massage, a chiropractor and PT. After 4 long months the pain had almost subsided and my range of motion had been restored.
Last month I was fit for a splint for the lower teeth to help me with my clenching while I sleep. This past Tuesday I picked it up and began wearing it immediately. My dentist spent about a half hour making it fit ok. It wasn’t perfect but he insisted it was a good place to start and scheduled me to comeback in 6 weeks for a tune up. Since I didn’t know any difference, I trusted his advice.
Wednesday morning when I took it out my bite felt a bit off on my right side but no major pain really. I wore it most of the day. This morning I was woken up around 5:30 am with the most excruciating pain in the muscle in the back of my throat on the right side. This is the muscle that contracts when ever I swallow. I can feel the tender spot if I stick my thumb in the back right hand side of my throat on the inside of my teeth. I took an 800 Ibuprofen and called my dentist. The pill only slightly helped. Every time I swallow it sends me through the roof with pain.
He finally called me back after 8 hours and told me he’d never heard of this reaction before. He’s on vacation now until the end of the month. He suggested to stop wearing the splint, take some Ibuprofen and see my physical therapist before seeing him when he returns from his vacation.
My question to you is have you ever heard of this type of pain? I hate to keep taking Ibuprofen because it upsets my stomach but it has been hurting all day with the same intensity. Did I not take enough time to slowly get use to the splint? Any ideas on what to do? Ice or heat on the exterior does not reach the spot and drinking anything just makes it hurt more because it makes me swallow. Is this a sprain of a mouth muscle?
Any advice would be so appreciated. I can’t find anything like this on the Internet.
Sincerely,
Di
Dear Di,
The place where you feel the contracting muscle would be, in my opinion based upon your message, a good place to apply some pressure. Pressure is a form of massage–it increases the circulation in a muscle. You can apply the pressure with a fingertip. You might have to shorten your nails if they are long. Support your inside finger or thumb with a thumb or finger on the outside of your throat.
The muscles around the joint of the jaw (TMJ) are powerful. I’m not sure why this happened in the first place or why it happened again. Are you a side sleeper? When you sleep on your side your jaw can drop to one side when it’s relaxed and strain jaw muscles. Or, your pillow may push your jaw toward the ceiling which also strains jaw muscles. Or, maybe your neck was aggravated and is sending messages to that muscle to contract.
If you happen to live near a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist (preferably Paul St. John trained) that person may be your best bet. NMT’s who have taken the whole program are trained to work on the muscles of the jaw, neck, throat and mouth. Be sure the therapist you find has taken that specific training. Ideally, they would also have taken the training to look at your posture and see what’s going on. A distortion in posture can cause jaw muscle pain, too.
Trying the CST was a good decision. Some therapists have a slightly more heavy hand. It didn’t help but it was still a good thought.
Did you know the disks in the jaw hinge are the only ones in the body that can regrow? And if one or both have moved out of place they will cause restriction while opening your mouth. It’s possible that the disk has dislocated. This could happen because of sleeping position or perhaps grinding or postural distortion. It is correctable by releasing the muscles around the TMJ. Again, you may need to work with an NMT to get your jaw realigned.
Di, I hope this helps you get rid of the pain in your jaw and get back the range of motion in your TMJ.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
I’ve been dealing with my own horror story of teeth pain since late July. My dentist redid fillings on the upper and lower on the right side and then a week later on the left. Since then I’ve had increasing pain. I returned to have the bite adjusted 3 times. At some point during all of this all the teeth in my upper arch began aching. I tried using a mouthguard, which helped at first, but now i’m not sure. The pain increased on the right side to the point my dentist sent me to the endodontist who completed a root canal several days ago. That pain is gone. But both the general dentist and specialist insist that the pain from the root canal has nothing to do with this tension and cramping in my upper arch. And in fact, that pain in the upper arch is now more pronounced. It feels as if there are clamps tightening around all my teeth or as if I was smacked in the front of my mouth. My general dentist insists the bite is correct, my specialist has tested all my teeth and doesn’t feel I need any more root canals, but I am in pain. Pushing on the pressure points of this muscle seemed to help momentarily but as the pain is not located on single side I don’t know that this is the answer….any thoughts?
Hi Jennifer,
I’m sorry to hear about your mouth pain. Here are my thoughts:
If your teeth are not aligned properly mouth pain can result. Other symptoms like headaches can also result.
It took visits to 3 different medical professionals before the last one finally spotted an infection in the bone which was barely visible on the x-ray. Consider taking your x-rays to a different dentist or specialist (or two) and see what they say.
Perhaps it is muscle-related. It may be other muscles rather than the one at the side of your jaw. Since you describe it as “tension and cramping” that does sound muscular. There are muscles in the upper back portion of the inside of your mouth. I wish there was an easy way for me to show you how to find all of the muscles around your mouth and jaw. Here is what you can do:
Explore all of your soft tissue and muscles around your jaw. Do this by pinching between your finger and thumb.
You might gag but, if you can, press a finger (gently) into your soft palate and the tissues that you feel are ‘tight’ in the back of the roof of your mouth.
You might be able to find a neuromuscular massage therapist who has been trained to do this work. And there is such a thing as a neuromuscular dentist but I have never met one. I understand there are more in the northwest part of the US. They make sure your teeth are aligned properly and in a way that won’t cause pain anywhere else.
Did your dentist check your bite while you were in an upright position? That’s the position we are in most of the time and that we eat in. My training indicated that is the right way to check whether a bite is correct.
I hope this helps and that you get relief quickly from the pain in your mouth.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Thank you for your kind response. Since writing, I have been applying pressure to various muscles and the clamping sensation is dissipating, though the front teeth still feel terrible off, and now the tooth that received the root canal aches. Pain is a funny thing – it seems that when I do something that alleviates it in one area it becomes more pronounced in another. I will call my endodonist tomorrow morning to make sure this is normal and will be finding a new general dentist and ask them to check my bite while seated – which makes sense!
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
You are welcome. “…front teeth still feel terrible off” – does that mean pain in the bottom 2 center teeth? The muscle that causes that sensation is below and inside your lower jaw. It’s in your lower jaw.
Beware if your endodontist says it is normal. It’s not. You might have some discomfort following a dental procedure but it should be gone within a few days to a week (unless it’s surgery, like removing ingrown molars; then it might take longer.)
Keep on exploring and checking the muscles around your face and jaw. There are a lot and some are very powerful. The temple muscles on the sides of your head over your ears can cause “tooth pain.” It’s not really pain in the teeth but it feels like it when the temple muscles develop trigger points. You can find the temple muscles by placing your palms on the sides of your head and pretending you are chewing. They will pop up with the chewing movement.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
http://simplepainrelief.com/2011/12/03/jaw-pain-can-be-caused-by-temple-muscles/
Jennifer, here’s another article for you if you didn’t find it yet. It’s about the temple muscles on the side of your head. They can cause tooth pain.
There is a category here for “jaw pain” and there are a few more articles there about jaw pain and muscles. The Category selector is on the right hand side of this page.
Thank you!
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
I have a really bad neck ut over the last few days have a tooth ache on left hand side down the bottom. It is also affecting my ears and now the front of my neck(throught area) is this normal
Dear Melissa,
This kind of neck and tooth pain is not normal at all! Did you wake up with this pain? You may have “twisted” your neck in your sleep and aggravated some muscles. Muscles on the side of your face can cause pain in your teeth. So, a spasm or contraction can start in one muscle and travel to all of the other muscles in a rather large area.
But, also, an infection in a tooth can cause pain all over your head and neck and shoulder. So, did it start with the tooth pain? Or with the neck pain? That will help you know what to do next.
From here, based on your description, I’m thinking it may have started in the front of your neck muscles. If you would like to send me more details (exactly where it hurts) I will try to come up with more specific information to help you get rid of the pain in your tooth and neck and ears.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
I have been having some severe pain in one tooth for about a day now, to the point where it hurts to chew, even if the food is on the other side of the mouth, now I am feeling a knot right under it, right behind my jaw bone. What can I do to release it?
Hi April,
We will assume this is not a cavity or an infection in the tooth or jaw. Those conditions would require a dentist. But if it’s muscle (and it could very well be muscle) there are several around the hinge side of your jaw. Press deeply into the soft tissues on the inside of your mouth with clean fingers. Explore on the cheek side (pointing toward the head) as well as on the inner side (pointing up and toward the teeth) of your lower and upper jaws. If you find tender areas they may be the culprits! If it’s really tender, adjust your pressure to about 6 or 7 out of 10 (10 being way too uncomfortable. 1 being nothing.) Hold this pressure for about 12 seconds.
If you don’t find any tenderness, you may not be pressing deeply enough. Go a bit deeper. Not pressing deeply enough is usually the reason for not finding tender areas. You may also discover that a tender area causes your tooth pain to feel more or less. That’s a good sign that you have found an area that is referring the pain into your tooth.
I hope this helps you get rid of the pain in your tooth.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
I have pain on one side of my jaw, none of my teeth feel like they’re hurting but I noticed the other day that when I bite down softly, my teeth aren’t hitting flush. The right side of my jaw has dropped a substantial amount and idk what the reason is. Can anyone tell me what the problem is?
Hi Ted, Here are some long-distance thoughts about your jaw pain. You didn’t say which side hurts but we’ll talk anyway and see what we can figure out.
Here’s some background:
You have a disk in each jaw joint. In an ideal world (and body) these disks would be exactly equal and would both function the same. However, if one side of your body gets out of balance, your jaw will, too. That means there will be more pressure and discomfort on the disk on at least one side.
How does your body get out of balance? Perhaps you got socked in the jaw, or fell on your face, or always sleep on the same side. Or, maybe you have a leg length difference. One out of ten of us do and that causes you to walk on a tilt. That means your pelvis is on a tilt and when that happens, your jaw is also tilted.
What’s the good news? The disk in the jaw joint is the only one in the whole body that can re-groove itself; it can get back ‘on track.’
I would suggest doing a mirror evaluation. Stand squarely facing a mirror and look at your hips, your shoulders, where your fingertips end while holding your arms next to your body. Do you see any asymmetries? Or does everything look about the same from side to side? Take your time and look closely.
Looking in the mirror again, look at your face. Is the side that hurts the lower side? Do you see anything else on that side of your face that is also lower? If so, we should talk more.
But perhaps the pain in your jaw is simply being caused by tight muscles around the joint. You can actually massage the muscles inside your mouth near your jaw hinge. In this case, ‘massage’ means direct pressure with a finger tip pressing into the area around the joint. You will no doubt find very tender tissue there. Tender means tight so that would be an appropriate place to apply pressure. Hold one hand on the outside of your cheek to stablize your jaw and press into the muscles around the joint from the inside.
I hope this will help you start to get rid of the pain in your jaw and get your jaw closing properly again.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Hope you can help. I went to the dentist about a month ago. They gave me three fillings: 2 on the lower left and one on the upper right. About a week later I was having pain, mainly the left side of my face. The dentist checked my bite and filed the fillings accordingly. The pain went away for about a day then returned to the left side of my face. A week later I returned because I couldn’t take the pain any longer. The dentist checked my bite again, performed another x-ray and couldn’t find anything. He ordered a mouth guard for me to wear at night due to grinding my teeth. I wore it for about a week and the pain continued. Now I have pain on the left side of my face(back teeth area, top and bottom) some days and some days its on the right side of my face (back teeth area, top and bottom). It feels like my teeth are going to explode! I can apply pressure to all my teeth with absolutely no pain. The pain comes and goes and usually occurs after eating or drinking hot or cold items. My teeth are now very temperature sensitive. I don’t know what to do. I cant take this pain much longer.
Hi Joe,
When we are at the dentist, especially when having extensive work, as you did, we are either holding our mouth open wider than usual or the dentist has our mouth propped open with a device. Not only can this cause the temporal muscles on the sides of the head to get ‘too tight’ it can also aggravate the muscles at the very back of the jaw joint to be aggravated.
1. When the dentist checks your bite, you should be in an upright, seated position. Not reclining. We chew and talk in an upright position rather than in a reclining position. So, make sure he checks the bite while you are upright just in case the bite is still off.
2. As you describe it to me, I believe the pain in your teeth is probably caused by trigger points in the temple and jaw muscles. When these muscles become overstretched or aggravated, they can develop trigger points. Trigger points shoot sensations of pain into the teeth. The problem is not in the teeth; it’s in the muscles on the sides of your head and of your jaw.
What to do? Explore those temple muscles. Push them upward from your jaw joint toward the top of your head to see whether there is any tenderness. When you push upward, you are pressing into the temporal muscles and helping them to relax. It’s more comfortable to press upward rather than straight into the head.
Grasp your hair close to your scalp (as much hair as you can at a time) and pull it away from your scalp? Tender? That means the temple muscle is tight. Pulling your hair and twisting it slightly (so that you can feel the pull) will help the temporalis muscle to relax.
When you are eating (and maybe when drinking) you are using your jaw muscles. The temple muscles are jaw muscles as well as the muscles that are on the sides of your jaw. If you place your palms on the sides of your head (the temple area) and pretend you are chewing, you will be able to feel the temporal muscles moving.
Now, explore the muscles that are at your jaw joint. Here’s how:
Open your jaw slightly and ‘pinch’ the tissues at the back of your jaw, right by the hinge joint. Put your index finger on the outside of your left jaw joint back toward your ear and your thumb inside your mouth, so finger and thumb are opposite each other and lined up. Apply some pressure to cause the muscle to be pinched between your finger and your thumb. If it feels really hard there, as though you are pressing on bone, or really tender, that means the jaw muscle is tight and needs to be relaxed and can be the cause of your teeth pain. You can help it to relax by continuing with the pinching technique and moving to different parts of the jaw muscle.
I hope this helps you understand the possible reasons for your teeth pain, Joe, and the steps to take to start to get it to settle down. When you relax the muscles of your jaw, the pain should start to go away.
Also, there are some dentists who are called neuromuscular dentists. They look for the cause of your pain and make sure your teeth line up properly. There may or may not be one around you. Also, there are neuromuscular massage therapists (I am one) and neurosomatic therapists who were trained by Paul St. John (he’s in Florida) and they should be able to find and get rid of the trigger points that are causing your teeth pain.
The good news is I believe the pain in your teeth is caused by muscles and muscles are treatable. It is being causes by trigger point referrals and when you get rid of those trigger points in those tight muscles, either by do-it-yourself as I described here or with an NMT therapist, the pain in your teeth will be gone.
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
I have had severe tooth pain for quite some time now. I have in the last 8 weeks or so gone to my dentist 3 times. Twice I went for the pain and he took x-rays of the offending teeth and the other time was for regular dental cleaning. I am hyper vigilant about cleaning my teeth and maintaining dental health.
I have four mouth guards one for the upper and three for the bottom. I wear the top each night and a bottom one that looks like rubber that goes around the whole teeth. I will even wear in the day the bottom one.
Two years ago I had pain on this same right side and I was told I had to have a crown done because I had cracked a tooth from stress and clenching. (I have been through a lot with health of my own and my family). I must have seen the dentist about 5 times afterwards because the teeth were hurting. I went to an endodontist about 1 1/2 yrs ago and an ENT specialist and a neurologist and my own GP because of the pain. The pain I put to the back of my mind until Early December of this past year (2014). My MIL passed and I had teeth that hurt like the dickens. I have pain also where the jaw joint joins. I have pain where the masseter muscle joins the mandible jaw bone by the angle and by the more forward towards the area where it is under the molars and pre molars.
I have a bump also that is a bit hard. I have gone to a TMJ specialist in the past and mentioned this bump (it is located by the bottom of the outer jawline on the right side). She stated that this was scar tissue because I had to have the Novocaine injected a number of times when having the crown in March 2013. She stated that there was nothing out of the ordinary on the x-rays that she took then as well and she also had the x-rays that the dentist had taken.
I now will see her again in a few days and will have more x-rays to have her look at. As stated the dentist says that the teeth look fine.
I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue and I do tend to stress out a lot. I know that the pain can be referred from other locations in the body and from tense muscles in the neck and back and even the posture.
I don’t know sometimes I just feel like all my teeth on the lower half of the right side of my face are rotten. I should also state that I have had numbness on the side of the face in the past and now and I get headaches.
Is all this from muscles?
Hey Maureen, Wow! You know a lot and you have really done a good job of diagnosing the cause of your pain. You are doing better than your doctors. 🙂
When the back teeth on the top and the bottom jaw are hurting, it’s the massater. The temporalis muscle and others around the head/jaw may be involved because muscles often ‘act up’ in groups. But for now, let’s start with the massater.
Assuming you have short fingernails, place your right hand on the outside of your massater and jaw joint. You will use your right hand to support the muscle and to press against with your left index finger. Place your left index finger inside your mouth. Do you feel a hard lump that feels like bone where you think the massater should be? Well, that IS the massater muscle! It’ not supposed to feel that hard; that just indicates that it is tight or contracted.
Slide your left index finger up toward your cheekbone and temple between your cheek and jaw bone. Tender? Good. Press into the tenderness. That will help it relax. If you’re not finding tenderness, explore more deeply in that area. You do want it to be uncomfortable. You do not want to kill yourself.
Next, slide your finger down toward your jaw line. You are looking for tender areas between the cheek and lower jaw. You are pointing downward and backward. When you find the tender areas, do as above. Hold the pressure into tender areas for several seconds.
You can also compress the body of the massater muscle between your index finger and thumb (one inside your mouth, the other outside) and that will help it relax. Work slowly and thoughtfully and pay attention to the sensations and the pressure. Too little pressure will not release the muscle. Too much is too painful.
The muscle is tight. You want it to soften and relax. You can do this yourself if I have done a good job of explaining. Another option is to find a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist who is trained in and does inter-oral work. This is one of my favorite things to do because it has such benefits. There are neuromuscular dentists but I think they are mostly around the northwest U.S. and I don’t know how many there are.
Definitely, muscles can cause your headaches and even the numbness.
Thank you for writing about the pain in your back teeth. Let me know if you have further questions and about your success.
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
Kathryn
Thank you for the time you took to write out the help for the muscles.
I have gone to the TMJ specialist again and again she stated that the teeth look fine to her. She gave me a prescription to have PT done for TMJ. I did go and hope to have a few more times to have them help me with this.
I am still not convinced that there is not something seriously wrong with the teeth. The one in particular is the one in front of the one that was crowned almost 2 years ago.
The TMJ specialist is an oral surgeon (who just happened to have worked on my husband yesterday for a tooth extraction due to a failed root canal). She took 3-D image of the offending teeth (what I have been told are teeth 28-31 on the lower right side). She stated the teeth look in good condition for my age.
The pain is so persistent that I just do not know what to do.
I was given exercises to do because of the TMJ PT. I have done them.
I was told perhaps this was all from bruxism. Can this pain last this long and cause this much pain with no odontological reason. I know I am grasping at straws. I am thinking that all my teeth on the lower right side are going to have to come out.
She also stated that the bump on the bottom of the jaw is not an abscess but why is it more pronounced?
I am full of anxiety about this whole issue.
Maureen, It looks like I may have missed your message. I hope your jaw is feeling better now and that you were able to do some physical therapy or jaw massage that made a big difference for you.
My apologies for not responding sooner. I hope all is well.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
Dear Kathryn, I have had been waking up almost every morning with very bad jaw, ear and bottom teeth pain. Went to 3 different dentist and family doctor, they took X-rays and checked my bite, ear dr. Checked my ear with no results of anything wrong. I have been living on aspirin every day for almost a year with no idea of what to do now. Recently I started taking my allergy pill at bed time and that seems to help for a while where the pain isn’t,t so bad, and sometimes I don’t have to take aspirin. Month ago I had an infected tooth on top and had surgery, but that did nothing for the intense pain. Now the pain seems to be worst when the weather is cold and raining. Don’t know if that means anything. Doctors seem to brush it off as just in my head and don’t seem to want to help me.
Hi Carol, I’m sorry to hear about the pain in your jaw, ear and teeth. When doctors and dentists cannot find anything wrong, that’s good news! It almost always means soft tissues (muscles) are the cause. And muscles are treatable! 🙂 The directions for you to try are in this article. Your description does sound like trigger points in jaw muscles.
But here is another article I would like you to read: http://simplepainrelief.com/2011/06/26/pain-in-your-jaw-may-be-caused-by-infection/ I wonder whether you may still have an infection? Weather pressure changes would cause more pain if there is an infection, I’m thinking. It may be worth seeing a maxillary specialist, perhaps taking your previous x-rays.
When doctors don’t know, they often will just brush it off. But they are right about one thing: It IS in your head. Truly! Just because they haven’t found it yet, doesn’t mean there is not a problem.
Please do try the self-treatment for the massater muscle in the article. It will be uncomfortable if it’s the muscles. If it starts to help, you are on the right track. If it doesn’t help at all, then you may wish to consider a specialist.
I know you will soon be rid of this bad pain in your jaw. It’s just a matter of figuring out the cause.
Please read the comments under this article–there is some good additional information there.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
And here’s another article that may help: http://simplepainrelief.com/2011/12/03/jaw-pain-can-be-caused-by-temple-muscles/
Carol, about a year ago I had a root canal. a few months later the two teeth in front of that tooth had discomfort. I went back to the dentist and he said it was nothing. A few times after this I have had pain come and go but now I have had discomfort every day. Its the worst when I wake up in the morning. No redness or swelling. I woke up last night in a lot of pain and had to take aspirin (first time). Where do I go from here, dentist or a specialist? also could there be something wrong with my bite, should I try a mouth guard?
Hi Jody, I’m not sure exactly which two teeth you mean but if they are on the side of your mouth, my best long distance guess is your temple muscles. I’m thinking there will be some very tender areas if you push/press into the muscles on the side of your head above your jaw. If so, the pressing is the treatment. Seek tender spots all around your temporal muscles and hold the pressure on the tender areas for several seconds to help the muscle relax. It may have something to do with the way you are sleeping; try changing position or pillows. Let me know how this works for you.
Thank you for asking about the pain in your teeth. The good news is that almost always when the doctor says there is ‘nothing there’, that means muscles are involved and muscles are treatable.
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
Kathryn
I had no clue about the jaw muscles and the impact they have on teeth discomfort. My symptoms mirror many that you have helped having pain on right side affecting teeth. I have these questions: how many times do you suggest the muscle massage method a day?; would a heat pad help? I did the muscle relaxing method and it did help but the pain is still there but a bit less intense.
Hi Pete, Good questions! If the muscles are very tight, they may feel like they are bruised after massaging them deeply. They may be too uncomfortable to press into again for a couple of days or so.
I’m glad it’s helping and that you are taking action! Yes, heat can help. A hot compress would help warm the muscles and help them relax. You can also try alternating heat and cold compresses or packs, 20 minutes off and on.
Because the muscles attach to the bones, try to get as far into the bony area as you can when you massage your jaw muscles. That way you will get all of the muscle. You will also discover more tender (and tight) areas that need to be relaxed. Sometimes a lot of ground can be covered in one day. Sometimes it will depend on your level of discomfort with the jaw muscle massage. If you can ‘explore’ your muscles daily, that’s not too often. If you need to take a break of a few days, use the heat on those days. Also, heat before massage is good!
Since your jaw pain is less intense, I think you are on the right track! I will tell you that it’s sometimes very tender and even intense when the jaw muscles are treated so don’t be scared off by discomfort. That just means the muscles are tight. Tender means tight. Sometimes the muscles are so tight that they feel hard, like bones, but bones aren’t tender.
Thank you,
Kathryn Merrow
The Pain Relief Coach
Hi Kathryn, I recently had fillings done on both left & right sides, top and bottom within a 2 month span. This definitely caused some TMJ issues, along with needing to go back several times to check bite alignments which never felt quite right, maybe due to the TMJ being strained. I just went through the most painful 2 weeks of TMJ spasms, which included my top back molars to be very tender suddenly. My dentist did an X-ray which showed no infection and no fractures to fillings. My main complaint now that most of the pain has settled, is my bite is completely off. When I close my mouth only the tender molars are touching the bottom molars. Is this normal after a TMJ flare? I’m working on pressure point muscle release and massater massage, but my jar just seems so unaligned and even the roof of my mouth seems more swollen on that upper right side. Any suggestions would be so appreciated!
Hi Hailey, Did you know that you can massage your jaw muscles from inside your mouth as well as the outside muscles? It sounds like you’re doing the right thing for your massater muscles from the outside. You can also press thoughtfully into the joint area inside your mouth. The more tender, the more likely it could be part of your discomfort. You may discover that one side is more tender than the other. That’ll be the side to treat more.
Are you also massaging and pressing on tender areas that may be trigger points in your temporalis muscles on the sides of your head (above your ears)? They would be good to check out.
There are some massage therapists are are trained to do inter-oral massage but more don’t.
You can also glide along that area that feels more swollen on the roof of your mouth with gentle pressure. Explore that area with pressure that’s uncomfortable but not killing.
All of the muscles around your jaw can sure be affected by extensive dental work like you had. The muscles can throw your bite off. And the good news is….they can all be treated naturally with massage or touch.
Thank you for your questions about your jaw pain. I think you’re on the road to getting rid of your jaw misalignment quickly!