Pain at the back of your jaw usually comes from one of a handful of common sources: the jaw joint itself, a problem wisdom tooth, clenching or grinding habits, or less commonly, a salivary gland issue or sinus infection. The location narrows things down significantly, since the back of the jaw is where the joint sits, where wisdom teeth erupt, and where the strongest chewing muscles attach. Figuring out which one is behind your pain depends on what the pain feels like, when it shows up, and what other symptoms come with it.
TMJ Disorders: The Most Common Cause
The temporomandibular joint, where your lower jaw connects to your skull, sits right in front of your ear at the back of your jaw. Problems with this joint or the muscles around it are called TMJ disorders (sometimes written as TMD), and they affect roughly 30% of the global population. Women are nearly twice as likely to develop them as men.
TMJ pain typically feels dull and aching, not sharp. It can last for hours at a time and often spreads into your face, temples, or neck. You might also notice clicking or popping when you open your mouth, stiffness in the morning, difficulty opening wide, or a feeling that your jaw is catching or locking. Some people develop ear ringing, dizziness, or a sense that their bite has changed. The exact cause is often unclear, but a combination of genetics, stress, pain sensitivity, and structural differences in the joint all seem to play a role.
One important thing to know: despite decades of belief that a “bad bite” causes TMJ problems, research does not support that connection. Orthodontic treatment or bite adjustments are not proven to help and may make things worse.
Wisdom Teeth and Impaction
If you’re in your late teens to mid-twenties (or sometimes older), the pain at the back of your jaw could be a wisdom tooth trying to come in. Wisdom teeth are the last molars to erupt, and they often don’t have enough room. When a wisdom tooth gets stuck partially or fully beneath the gum line, it’s considered impacted.
Impacted wisdom teeth cause swelling and pain in the jaw or face, red or bleeding gums at the very back of your mouth, a bad taste, difficulty opening wide, and sometimes bad breath. Horizontally impacted wisdom teeth are particularly painful because they push sideways into the tooth in front of them. In some cases, the pain radiates through your jaw, face, and head. The gum tissue over a partially erupted wisdom tooth can also trap food and bacteria, leading to an infection called pericoronitis, which makes the area intensely sore and swollen.
Teeth Grinding and Clenching
If your jaw hurts most when you wake up in the morning, grinding or clenching during sleep is a strong possibility. This is called sleep bruxism, and it puts enormous strain on the masseter muscle, the thick muscle at the angle of your jaw that you can feel tighten when you bite down. Grinding accounts for about 60% of the masseter’s peak activity, which is a huge workload for a muscle that’s supposed to be resting overnight.
The classic morning profile includes jaw muscle pain, fatigue, a feeling of tightness, headaches at the temples, and sometimes jaw locking right when you wake up. Many people don’t realize they grind because it happens during sleep. A partner may hear the sound, or a dentist may notice wear patterns on your teeth. Daytime clenching, often linked to stress or concentration, produces similar pain but tends to build throughout the day rather than peaking in the morning.
Nerve Pain That Mimics Jaw Problems
Trigeminal neuralgia is a nerve condition that causes sudden, intense facial pain and can easily be mistaken for a jaw problem. However, it feels completely different from TMJ pain once you know what to look for.
Nerve pain is sharp and stabbing, like an electric shock, and lasts only seconds to a couple of minutes before disappearing. It’s almost always on one side of the face. TMJ pain, by contrast, is dull and continuous, can last hours, and often affects both sides. Another telling difference: nerve pain typically goes away entirely during sleep, while TMJ pain can persist through the night. People with trigeminal neuralgia also notice that specific triggers set it off, things like a gust of wind, a temperature change, bright light, or even a light touch to the face. The pain may come with facial twitching, skin flushing, or tearing of the eye. Heat makes nerve pain worse, while it usually soothes muscle-related jaw pain.
Salivary Gland Problems
Your parotid gland, the largest salivary gland, sits just in front of and below your ear, overlapping the back of your jaw. When a small stone forms in one of its ducts, it blocks saliva from draining properly. The gland swells, becomes painful, and can get infected. The pain and swelling often flare up during meals, when saliva production ramps up and pushes against the blockage.
Symptoms of a salivary gland issue include a bad taste in the mouth, swelling in the cheek or under the jaw, pain in the face or mouth, difficulty opening your mouth, and sometimes fluid draining from the ear. A lump near the ear, cheek, or jaw is another sign. If the gland becomes infected, the area may feel warm and tender, and you might develop a fever.
Sinus Infections and Referred Pain
Your maxillary sinuses, the large air-filled spaces behind your cheekbones, sit remarkably close to the roots of your upper back teeth. The roots of the upper second molars are the closest to the sinus floor, sometimes separated by only a thin membrane with no bone between them at all. This thinning tends to increase with age.
When a sinus infection develops, the inflammation and pressure can radiate downward into your upper back teeth and jaw, creating pain that feels dental even though the source is your sinuses. If your back-of-jaw pain came on during or after a cold, is accompanied by nasal congestion, facial pressure, or a feeling of fullness behind your cheeks, a sinus issue could be the real cause. The pain often worsens when you bend forward or lie down.
How the Cause Gets Identified
A dentist or doctor will start with a physical exam, feeling the jaw joint and muscles, checking how wide you can open, and listening for clicks or pops. Different imaging tools are used depending on what’s suspected. A standard dental X-ray or panoramic X-ray shows bone changes, fractures, and tooth problems well. If a soft tissue issue is suspected, like a displaced disc inside the jaw joint or inflammation, an MRI is the most accurate tool. CT scans produce the best images of bone structure when more detail is needed. Ultrasound can detect disc problems in the jaw joint and is a more affordable option, though it only shows soft tissue.
Managing Jaw Pain at Home
For muscle-related jaw pain and mild TMJ symptoms, home care is the first line of treatment and often the only one needed. Applying a warm compress to the sore area helps relax tight muscles. Over-the-counter pain relievers can reduce inflammation. Eating softer foods for a few days gives the joint and muscles a chance to calm down. Avoid wide yawning, chewing gum, and resting your chin on your hand.
Jaw coordination exercises have strong evidence behind them for reducing pain and improving mobility. These involve gentle, controlled movements of the jaw, opening, closing, and sliding side to side, performed for 10 to 45 minutes or about 10 repetitions at least three times a day. Research shows meaningful improvement when these exercises are done consistently for one to three months. The key is gentle, purposeful movement rather than aggressive stretching.
When a Splint or Other Treatment Helps
If grinding or clenching is the issue, a stabilization splint (sometimes called a night guard or Michigan splint) worn during sleep separates the teeth, reduces clenching force, and allows the jaw muscles to relax. This is the most commonly prescribed type and works well for both muscle pain and bruxism. A different type, called a repositioning splint, moves the lower jaw slightly forward to take pressure off the joint itself. This version is typically reserved for people with clicking or popping caused by a displaced disc inside the joint. Both types reduce pain and improve jaw function, but they serve different purposes, so getting the right one matters.
For impacted wisdom teeth, extraction is the standard treatment when the tooth is causing pain, infection, or damage to neighboring teeth. Salivary gland stones sometimes pass on their own with hydration and gentle massage, but larger stones may need to be removed. Sinus-related jaw pain resolves as the infection clears, sometimes on its own and sometimes with antibiotics.