Why does my jaw hurt on one side?

One side of your jaw aches while the other feels completely fine, and that can be unsettling, especially if it is your left side and you have read that jaw pain can come from the heart.

Most of the time the cause sits in the jaw itself or in a tooth. Below I go through the usual causes, a self-check I use with patients, and when to get help straight away.

In short

Pain on one side of your jaw is most often caused by a jaw joint or muscle problem called TMD, or by a tooth issue (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). TMD symptoms can affect one side only (Santana-Mora et al., 2013). Jaw pain from the heart is less likely, but it can appear on either side (Kreiner et al., 2007).

• TMD and dental problems are the most likely reasons for jaw pain on one side.
• Pain that follows one tooth, comes with swelling, or started after a dental problem is a reason to see a dentist.
• Jaw pain together with chest pain, feeling short of breath, sweating or feeling sick is an emergency, whichever side it is on (NHS heart attack, 2026).

Why would only one side of my jaw hurt?

You have two temporomandibular joints, one on each side of the jaw (NIDCR, 2026), with chewing muscles on both sides that move them. Symptoms can still affect one side only: in a small study of 21 people with long-lasting TMD, 20 had pain on one side (Santana-Mora et al., 2013).

The NHS lists pain around the jaw, ear and temple as typical TMD symptoms, along with clicking, a headache around the temples and difficulty opening the mouth fully (NHS TMD, 2023). On one side, that can mean pain around the jaw and ear and trouble opening wide (NHS TMD, 2023). If the pain sits mostly in your ear, our article on TMJ and ear pain explains why the two are easy to confuse.

Does the side I chew on matter?

It might. In the same Spanish study, 16 of the 20 people with one-sided pain habitually chewed on the side that hurt (Santana-Mora et al., 2013). The study was small and looked at one point in time, so it cannot show whether chewing on one side causes the pain. The authors were preparing to test a bite-adjustment treatment, while the NIDCR says research does not support a bad bite as a cause of TMD (NIDCR, 2026).

The NHS names teeth grinding, stress, a blow to the face, wear and tear of the joint and an uneven bite as possible causes of TMD (NHS TMD, 2023). The NIDCR adds that in most cases the exact cause is not clear (NIDCR, 2026).

Could it be a tooth instead?

Yes, and it is one of the first things to rule out. Cleveland Clinic names a tooth issue alongside TMD as a cause of pain on one side of the jawbone, and lists an abscessed tooth and gum infection as dental causes of jaw pain (Cleveland Clinic, 2022).

A few clues point towards a tooth. A dental abscess can cause intense toothache or gum pain, a swollen face or jaw, and difficulty opening your mouth and chewing (NHS dental abscess, 2026). Wisdom teeth can cause pain and swelling and gum infections around the tooth, known as pericoronitis (NHS wisdom teeth, 2024). If your jaw hurts when you bite down on one side, a cracked back tooth is another possibility. In a US study of more than 2,800 cracked back teeth, 45 per cent caused symptoms, with pain to cold the most common and pain on biting in 16 per cent (Hilton et al., 2018).

What else can cause jaw pain on one side?

• Sinusitis causes pain, swelling and tenderness around the cheeks, eyes or forehead, and sometimes toothache in the upper jaw (NHS sinusitis, 2024).
• Trigeminal neuralgia usually affects one side of the face. It feels like a sharp shooting pain or an electric shock in the jaw, teeth or gums, lasts from a few seconds to about two minutes, and can be set off by eating, brushing your teeth, touching your face or wind (NHS trigeminal, 2023).
• A jaw injury can break or dislocate the jaw, which Cleveland Clinic treats as an emergency (Cleveland Clinic, 2022).
• Giant cell arteritis can cause jaw pain while eating or talking, together with pain or tenderness at the side of the head and sometimes vision loss. It needs an urgent GP appointment (NHS GCA, 2023).

Is left-sided jaw pain a sign of a heart attack?

It can be. The NHS lists chest pain spreading to the arms, neck or jaw as a reason to call 999 (NHS heart attack, 2026), and Cleveland Clinic says to call 911 if pain spreads from your chest to your jaw (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). In the EU, call 112.

Heart-related jaw pain is not limited to the left side, though. In a study of 186 people with a confirmed episode of reduced blood flow to the heart, 32 per cent felt pain in the head and face area together with pain elsewhere, and 6 per cent felt pain only there. The most common spots were the throat, the left lower jaw, the right lower jaw, the left jaw joint and ear area, and the teeth, and this kind of pain was more common in women (Kreiner et al., 2007). A later review describes this pain as oppressive or burning and estimates that up to 4 per cent of people having a heart attack feel pain only in the face and mouth, women more often than men (Kreiner et al., 2020).

In practice, the side matters less than what comes with it. My clinical reasoning is that jaw pain which gets worse when you chew or press on the muscle, and has come and gone for weeks, points more towards TMD. That is a judgement, not a test, and pain brought on by chewing does not rule out a heart cause. Jaw pain that comes with chest pain, feeling short of breath, sweating or feeling sick needs an ambulance, even if your jaw is the main thing that hurts (NHS heart attack, 2026).

Try it: map your pain

This is the first check I do with someone who has pain on one side. It will not give you a diagnosis.

1. Point with one finger to where it hurts most. Note whether it is in front of your ear, along the jawbone, in your cheek or in one tooth.
2. Place your fingertips just in front of both ears and open your mouth slowly. Feel whether one joint moves differently, clicks or hurts.
3. Press gently on the thick cheek muscle on each side, about where your back teeth meet, and compare. A sore, tight muscle that feels familiar when pressed suggests a muscle cause.
4. Tap lightly on your upper and lower back teeth on the painful side with a clean finger. Sharp pain from one tooth points towards a dental cause, but no pain does not rule out a cracked tooth, since pain to cold is the more common sign (Hilton et al., 2018).
5. Note what makes it worse, such as chewing, cold drinks, bending forward or exertion.

Stop if any step causes sharp pain. If the pain clearly follows one tooth, or it came on with exertion, skip the rest and get it checked.

What helps when one side of your jaw hurts?

Once a tooth problem is ruled out, start with simple self-care. The NIDCR recommends conservative treatment first and advises against treatments that permanently change your teeth or bite (NIDCR, 2026).

In the moment

The NHS suggests soft food, paracetamol or ibuprofen if needed, an ice pack or heat pack wrapped in a tea towel, whichever feels better, and massaging the sore jaw muscles. It also advises not to chew gum or pen tops and not to yawn too wide (NHS TMD, 2023).

Long term

Keep your teeth apart except when you eat, as the NHS recommends (NHS TMD, 2023). The NIDCR also suggests reducing habits such as clenching, gum chewing and nail biting, and using relaxation techniques (NIDCR, 2026). Gentle jaw exercises can help too (NIDCR, 2026; NHS TMD, 2023), and our TMJ exercises page shows where to start. If grinding is part of the picture, have a look at teeth grinding.

How JawBuddy helps

JawBuddy is a digital companion for guided jaw exercises and self-management. It can help you build the daily habits described above, such as gentle exercises and noticing when you clench.

JawBuddy does not replace emergency care or an individual diagnosis from a qualified healthcare professional.

When should you see a doctor?

Emergency: call 999 in the UK, 911 in the US or 112 in the EU if:

• you have chest pain that feels tight or squeezing, or chest pain spreading to your arms, neck or jaw (NHS heart attack, 2026),
• your jaw or face is swollen and you find it hard to breathe, speak, swallow or open your mouth (NHS dental abscess, 2026),
• you think your jaw is broken or dislocated after an injury (Cleveland Clinic, 2022).

Urgent: see a dentist or doctor soon if:

• you think you have a dental abscess, or your face or jaw is swollen on one side (NHS dental abscess, 2026),
• you cannot eat or drink, your jaw is locking, or you have pain or tenderness at the side of your head (NHS TMD, 2023; NHS GCA, 2023),
• you have sudden electric-shock pains in your face (NHS trigeminal, 2023).

Same day: jaw pain when eating together with new vision problems needs to be seen the same day by an eye specialist (NHS GCA, 2023).

Cleveland Clinic also advises talking to a healthcare provider if jaw pain lasts more than a week (Cleveland Clinic, 2022).

You can narrow it down

One-sided jaw pain usually has an ordinary explanation that a dentist or physiotherapist can find. Do the pain map today, write down what you notice, and take it to your appointment if the pain has not eased within a week.

For a broader look at causes and treatments, read our jaw pain page and the TMJ disorder guide.