Most commonly, jaw pain is due to inflammation of your jaw muscles. This could be caused by one-off events (such as excessive opening, trauma, or dislocation of the jaws) or ongoing events such as clenching or grinding your teeth at night.
In some cases, jaw pain can be due to problems with the jaw joints. These include damage or wear of the bones in the ‘ball’ or ‘socket’ of the joint, the cartilage disc in between the bones of the joint, or the ligaments associated with the joints. These problems are usually due to long term (or chronic) problems which lead to deterioration of the joint over time.
Proper assessment of your jaw pain by your dentist is important to determine the cause of your pain and allow correct management to resolve your problems as soon as possible.