Grinding and Jaw
Why does my jaw click when I chew?
2 August 2026 · The Dentist, Al Qusais, Dubai
The short answer
That click is almost always coming from the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the hinge just in front of your ear, where a small cartilage disc slips slightly out of its normal position as you open or close your mouth. On its own, a click with no pain is common and usually not something to worry about. If it comes with pain, your jaw locking open or shut, or a change in how your teeth meet, it's time to get it looked at.
What's actually making the noise
Your jaw joint isn't a simple hinge. Between the jawbone and skull sits a small disc of cartilage that acts as a cushion, and it's meant to glide smoothly with the joint every time you open, close or chew. In a lot of people, that disc sits slightly forward of where it should. When you open your mouth, the jaw has to move past it, and the disc pops back into place with a click. Close your mouth and it can slip forward again, sometimes clicking a second time.
This is called disc displacement, and it's remarkably common. Studies and clinical experience both suggest a large chunk of the population has some form of it without ever noticing symptoms beyond the noise. Chewing puts more load through the joint than gentle opening does, so it's often the moment you notice the click most, especially with tougher foods like steak, bread crusts or ice.
Other contributors include a jaw joint that's slightly loose (some people are just more flexible there, similar to double-jointed fingers or knees), previous jaw trauma, or muscle tension from clenching and grinding that pulls the jaw slightly out of its usual resting path.
When a click is nothing and when it isn't
A click with zero pain, no restriction in how wide you can open, and no change in your bite is generally low priority. Plenty of people live with a clicking jaw for years and it never progresses to anything worse. You don't need to panic or stop eating the foods you enjoy.
It's a different picture if any of these show up alongside the click: pain in the joint or the muscles around your cheek and temple, a grinding or grating sensation rather than a clean click, your jaw catching or locking so you can't open fully, headaches that seem to start near your ears, or a feeling that your teeth don't meet the way they used to. Those signs point to the disc displacement progressing, inflammation in the joint, or muscle overload from grinding, and they're worth having examined rather than waiting out.
A sudden new click after a dental filling, crown or extraction is also worth mentioning to whoever treated you, since even a slightly high filling can throw the bite off enough to change how the joint tracks.
What actually helps, and what to do next
Treatment depends entirely on what's driving it. If muscle tension and night-time grinding are the main issue, a custom night guard that stops the teeth clenching together can take a lot of pressure off the joint and settle things down over a few weeks. If the click is tied to a bite that's uneven, adjusting or restoring specific teeth can help the jaw find a smoother path. In more persistent or painful cases, physiotherapy, jaw exercises, or a period of eating softer foods to let inflammation settle can make a real difference before anything more involved is considered.
None of this can be sorted out from a description alone, though. A dentist needs to actually feel the joint move, watch how you open and close, check your bite contacts, and ask about your stress levels and sleep, since grinding often happens without people realising it. Trying to self-diagnose or fix it with over-the-counter pain gel tends to mask the noise without addressing why it's happening.
If your jaw clicks when you chew and you're in Dubai, The Dentist in Al Qusais offers a free checkup for new patients, which is a straightforward way to have the joint assessed properly. Dr. Faris Alkhanafseh and Dr. Mohammad Nour both examine bite and jaw function as a routine part of general dental care, and you can book through WhatsApp or online at thedentist.ae/book.
This article is general information, not a diagnosis. If you are in Dubai, the free first checkup at our Al Qusais clinic is the fastest way to get an answer about your own teeth.