Why Does My Jaw Hurt on One Side? Causes and What to Do

Why Only One Side Hurts

Most jaw problems that come from habit, such as clenching, work both sides. A pain that stays on one side is more often local: one tooth, one wisdom tooth, one muscle you have been favouring, or one joint.

That is useful. It narrows the search to whatever sits under the spot you are pressing.

The Usual Causes

• A tooth. A deep cavity, a cracked tooth or an infection at the root of a lower molar can send pain along the jaw, sometimes toward the ear. See jaw pain from a tooth.
• A wisdom tooth. One that is partly through the gum can get inflamed and make that side of the jaw ache and stiffen. Our post on wisdom tooth pain covers it.
• Chewing on one side. If a tooth on the other side is sore, or a filling has gone, you rest that side and overwork this one. The overworked muscle then aches.
• Clenching or grinding, worse on one side. Few people grind evenly. If you wake with it, read why the jaw hurts when you wake up.
• The jaw joint. The joint in front of the ear (the TMJ) can be irritated on one side, often with clicking. See why the jaw pops.
• A sleeping position. Lying on one cheek with your hand under your jaw all night is a real cause, and an unglamorous one.

Tooth or Muscle: How to Tell

A rough guide, not a diagnosis:

• More likely a tooth: pain that throbs, wakes you at night, or flares with hot, cold or biting. Often you can point to one tooth, or to a bump or tender spot on the gum.
• More likely muscle or joint: a dull ache that is worse after chewing or in the morning, tender when you press the cheek, and no particular tooth that reacts.

Pressing along the jaw muscle and finding a sore knot is a good sign for muscle. Plenty of people have both, which is why a tooth check is worth doing even when it feels like a muscle. Our general post, why does my jaw hurt, goes through all of this in more detail.

What You Can Do Tonight

• Soft food, and chew on the side that does not hurt for a day or two.
• A warm damp cloth on the sore side for ten minutes, a few times a day.
• Keep your teeth apart at rest, with your lips together.
• Paracetamol or ibuprofen if you can normally take them, as the label says.
• Do not stretch or crack the jaw to see whether it helps.

If it is muscle, it should ease over several days. If it is the same or worse after a week, or it clearly lives in one tooth, have it looked at.

If It Gets Worse on a Thursday Night in Beit Shemesh

One-sided jaw pain that turns into swelling has a habit of arriving just before the weekend. Our clinic at Harav Kook 28/1 is open Sunday to Thursday 08:00-20:00 and Friday 09:00-17:00, and Shabbat is for genuine emergencies only. Same-day appointments are usually possible, so you do not have to carry a swelling through Shabbat and hope. We treat in Hebrew and English, which helps when you are trying to say exactly where it hurts and when.

Signs That Should Not Wait

• Pain in the left jaw with chest pressure, shortness of breath, sweating or pain spreading down the arm. Call Magen David Adom on 101. Jaw pain can be a heart symptom, and a dentist is the wrong address.
• Difficulty breathing or swallowing, or swelling spreading under the chin or toward the eye. Go to the nearest emergency room.
• Swelling in the cheek or under the jaw with a fever. Get seen the same day. Our page on tooth abscess treatment in Beit Shemesh explains what that involves.
• The jaw is stuck open or shut. See what to do when the jaw locks.
• Pain after a blow to the face.

Pain on one side with no swelling, no fever and no chest symptoms is rarely an emergency, and it can usually wait for a normal appointment. The ADA MouthHealthy page on TMJ and the AAOMS page on TMJ disorders give the same advice.

What Happens at the Visit

We ask which side, when it started and what makes it worse, then check the teeth on that side, the gum, the muscles and how far the jaw opens. An X-ray follows if a tooth is a suspect. If it is a tooth, we treat it, often the same day. If it is muscle, we say so and send you home with a plan. For clenching that keeps returning, we can make a night guard, described on our night guard page, and our post on grinding and tooth pain explains why it helps.

Not sure which group you are in? Message Urgent Dental Care, Harav Kook 28/1, Beit Shemesh, on WhatsApp at 055-985-8845 and describe it. We will tell you whether it needs a visit or a few soft meals. If you are in Ramat Beit Shemesh, see our emergency dentist page for Ramat Beit Shemesh.