We start by talking about temporalis and masseter muscle inflammation because it causes a lot of involuntary clenching and grinding, known as bruxism. Bruxism usually is what sets off all the other causes of TMJ symptoms. Thus, jaw muscle inflammation is crucial to understand if you want to understand TMJ.

 The masseter muscle and temporalis are the two main muscles responsible for clenching and will experience inflammation due to excessive clenching. The temporalis and masseter muscle inflammation symptoms are jaw muscle pain, referred tooth pain, headaches, pronounced jaw muscles, neck pain, back pain, and clenching.

Myofascial pain is the medical term for muscle pain, including your jaw muscles. Further, myofascial pain is soreness in the muscles and soft tissues, usually correlated to inflammation. For example, an astonishing study shows that 70% of people with myofascial pain, anywhere in their body, clench their teeth at night. Another study showed that 70% of the population with myofascial pain specific to the mouth and face area clenched and ground their teeth at night. Interestingly, only about 5 to 8 percent of the population clench their teeth. Thus, there is a strong link between muscle inflammation and TMJ caused by sleep clenching or bruxism.

Nerves do not like inflammation. It conflicts with their regular flow and makes them irritable. Therefore, TMJ will cause inflammation in your jaw muscles, and you will likely develop pain in the masseter and temporalis muscles depicted in an image in this section.

The inflammation in the masseter and temporalis will lead to headaches. Some studies show a strong correlation between TMJ myofascial pain and headaches. To illustrate the point, Ibuprofen tends to work better than Tylenol for headaches in some people because it is an anti-inflammatory drug. Thus, not only does Ibuprofen dull the pain response, but Ibuprofen fights the underlying inflammation as well. You can see TMJ will cause headaches due to the inflammation of the jaw muscles.

Jaw muscle inflammation from TMJ can result in referred pain in the teeth. The referred pain is caused by nerves becoming irritable when exposed to inflammation from other tissues. Specifically, the nerves connected to your teeth are affected because they run through and adjacent to the inflamed jaw muscles. Referred tooth pain can lead to unnecessary dental treatment if not correctly diagnosed. However, a few points will help diagnose the referred pain. First, if pressing on the jaw muscle produces pain in the tooth, it is likely referred pain. Second, if other pain-diagnosing tooth tests have limited or inconsistent results, you should suspect possible referred tooth pain. Finally, the diagram in this section matches the inflamed parts of a muscle to the corresponding referred teeth.

Pronounced jaw muscles signify you may have TMJ-induced inflammation. Jaw muscles will become stronger and more prominent when you clench and grind your teeth over time. Like most skeletal muscles, overworked muscles will noticeably bulge when you clench your teeth and feel tight to the touch. In addition, the angles of the jaw can be more pronounced even when the muscles are at rest.

Pain in the neck, back, eye, head, and shoulder muscles can be a symptom of inflamed chewing muscles and TMJ. Our bodies are remarkable in that they will compensate for weakness to operate even when injured. If we fatigue our jaw muscles, other muscles compensate, and they too can become fatigued. Thus, you can start getting muscle pain that seemingly has little to do with TMJ and chewing. These other muscles include pain in your neck, upper back, shoulders, back of your eyes, and back of your head. For each person, it is different which muscles will become fatigued. Most commonly, neck pain is associated with TMJ.

Jaw muscle fatigue can happen in reverse too. For example, if you overuse your neck muscles and they become exhausted, your jaw muscles can start to compensate. The jaw muscle then becomes tired and sore. Either way, the result is a lot of head and neck muscles become worn out, tired, sore, and inflamed.

Clenching and grinding, known as Bruxism, are symptoms of TMJ muscle inflammation. Clenching and grinding are more related to the root cause of TMJ that we cover more on this page but are still a symptom of muscle inflammation. In fact, 87.5% of people with TMJ also experience bruxism, according to one study. Most of the time, clenching will happen at night when you don’t notice it. However, you may also catch yourself clenching during the day. If so, read my article or watch my video on the root cause of TMJ and clenching excessively.

The clenching and grinding associated with TMJ can cause an increase in cracked and worn down teeth. As mentioned earlier, about 87.5% of people with TMJ simultaneously experience bruxism, or clenching and grinding. Excessive clenching will increase the possibility of worn-down and broken teeth, crowns, and fillings. Worn-down teeth, as depicted in the picture of this section, are characterized by flattened teeth and cratering of the biting surface of the teeth.

Tori is a word that means extra bone growth, and mandibular tori is specific to the jaw. Mandibular Tori is very common; however, some people may not notice they have it most of their lives. Once in a while, a patient will become concerned about the tori when they finally realize they have it. As seen in this section's image, Tori is commonly small and not problematic. However, the tori can become very large and inhibiting for a few people. Studies have shown that mandibular tori are more common in people with TMJ. There is generally no need for concern if you have tori unless it becomes rapidly growing or painful. In that case, you should see your dentist. Otherwise, mandibular tori can indicate you may have TMJ but neither confirm if you do or don’t have it.

On another page linked to here, I go over how to eliminate what might be triggering the clenching and inflammation of the masseter muscle. Those are possible direct causes of TMJ. On this page, we assume you couldn’t find the root cause and want relief by intervention. You can relieve masseter muscle inflammation just how you would deal with any type of muscle inflammation: Muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories, trigger point injections, cold compress for recent inflammation, hot compress for chronic inflammation, massages, nightguards, and physical therapy. However, each one of these options is limited in what it can achieve because it doesn’t fix the root cause of TMJ. See our TMJ relief page for more the remedies to TMJ.

The TMJ is the temporomandibular joint, and it connects the jaw bone to the rest of the skull. A capsule and disc in the joint stabilize the jaw to function normally. However, when the TMJ senses trauma or disfunction, it will become inflamed. If the TMJ has inflammation, it destabilizes the jaw and produces symptoms. Importantly, TMJ inflammation in the joint itself should not be confused with inflammation in the muscles supporting it, which we have already covered. The common TMJ inflammation symptoms are tinnitus, TMJ pain, ear pain, TMJ disc displacement, limited jaw opening, and an uneven bite.

If you look at the image in this section, you will see a real human skull and how close the TMJ is to this hole next to it. That hole is called the external auditory meatus and is where you will find your eardrums and many essential nerves for hearing. Next, you will notice a fissure or space that connects the TMJ socket to the inside of the external auditory meatus. Because of that fissure, called the petrotympanic fissure, you can experience tinnitus if you have TMJ. There is still debate about how these two affect each other, but it is likely from the pressure and spread of TMJ inflammation or the excessive tension of jaw muscles on the fissure.

According to a study, four things contribute to whether you will get tinnitus due to TMJ. First, if the petrotympanic fissure is open or semi-open, there is more communication with the TMJ, and thus the two will affect each other. Second, if the petrotympanic fissures’ height is near the middle of the socket, you are more likely to get TMJ tinnitus and jaw ear pain. Third, if the TMJ disc displacement is in front of the jawbone instead of a different location, you increase the risk of TMJ tinnitus and jaw ear pain. Fourth, females get tinnitus due to TMJ at a much higher rate than men. Another study adds a fifth risk factor that we have already covered earlier. Finally, if you have muscle pain and inflammation due to TMJ, you are much more likely to have jaw ear pain and TMJ tinnitus.

TMJ will increase the intensity of tinnitus even if the root cause is not the TMJ.

The temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, is like a door hinge. If a door hinge is slightly off, the door will not close or lock correctly. If your TMJ has inflammation, this will alter its hinge and how your teeth usually close together. Therefore TMJ inflammation will cause an uneven bite.

Usually, TMJ disc displacement will cause TMJ inflammation due to its constant trauma to the disc. However, the reverse is possible as well. For example, if you have experienced trauma to the jaw joint, your TMJ may have inflammation. The inflammation may cause the disc to displace, which causes more trauma and inflammation. This situation is a vicious cycle that can lead to permanent disc displacement. Therefore, I recommend seeking a medical professional that can prescribe anti-inflammatory medication so that the jaw can settle into its correct position with minor inflammation.

Inflammation in any joint can cause stiffness that will limit movement. Inflammation in the TMJ likewise can restrict movement, so your jaw won’t open all the way.

Let’s now go over Tooth Ligament Inflammation. Your teeth have ligaments anchoring them tightly to the jaw bone. If too much pressure goes onto those teeth, it translates to the ligaments, which can become bruised and inflamed. TMJ is often associated with excessive teeth clenching and chewing, so naturally, people with TMJ are more inclined to have tooth ligament inflammation. Tooth ligament inflammation has two main symptoms: tooth pain while biting and loose teeth.

On X-rays, Tooth ligament inflammation is apparent for some because the space between the tooth and bone becomes more pronounced when it usually is very slight. In addition, tooth ligament inflammation occurs more frequently if you are missing teeth because fewer teeth are distributing the load of biting pressure when you clench. Still, it can happen to anyone with a complete set of teeth.

There are many reasons your teeth might be sensitive and painful to your bite. One of the causes of biting pain is tooth ligament inflammation. If a tooth has too much pressure on it, then over time, the ligaments become inflamed and sore, especially to chewing. Consequently, the pain associated with tooth ligaments is often difficult to pinpoint for people because many teeth are affected by supporting the increased pressure. However, if just one tooth has shifted into a position that bears more force, then the one tooth can become sore with ligament inflammation. For some people, it can even loosen their teeth.