What does this mean?
Your bite is a fit between close to thirty teeth and two joints, accurate to less than a millimetre. Your brain learns this fit by heart, which is why you notice even a very small change straight away. A sudden change in the bite shows that one of the elements in this equation has moved.
The distinguishing point is the speed. Changes that settle in slowly over years can be explained by wear, by tooth loss or by teeth drifting slowly. A change that appears within days is different. A single tooth touching first and high often suggests that inflammation at the tip of the root has pushed the tooth a little way up out of its socket.
Your back teeth touching while a gap opens between your front teeth, or the opposite picture, brings to mind a change on the joint side. A bite problem that starts after a blow, on the other hand, should be assessed for a fracture. None of these causes is expected to put itself right on its own.
The cause of a sudden change in the bite may lie in a tooth, in the joint or in the jaw bone; because these routes run very differently from one another, telling them apart needs an examination and imaging.
Likely causes
What helps at home?
- Do not try to grind or file down the tooth you think is high yourself.
- Shift your chewing to the side that is comfortable and stay away from hard foods for a while.
- Note which day the change started and which tooth touches first.
- Do not wait with painkillers and hope it passes; even if the pain eases, the underlying cause stays where it is.
- Swelling in your face or under your jaw added to the change in your bite
- Fever, feeling unwell, or difficulty swallowing
- The change starting after a blow
- Numbness felt in the lip or at the point of the chin
- Quickly increasing restriction in opening your mouth
Frequently asked questions
- One tooth feels high, will it settle on its own?
- It is not expected to settle. A tooth does not rise on its own; something is pushing it, and that something is often inflammation at the tip of the root. Even if the pain eases, the tooth can stay in the same position. Grinding it down before the cause is found reduces healthy tooth tissue in a way that cannot be reversed.
- It happened after my new filling, is it still important?
- A new filling or crown may genuinely have been left high, and that is put right with a simple adjustment. But if there is throbbing in the same area, a long-lasting reaction to hot and cold, or swelling, the picture may not be explained by the height alone. It is sensible to have the tooth assessed before any adjustment.
- I wear a night guard, has that changed my bite?
- Appliances worn in the mouth can create a temporary difference in the bite that lasts a few minutes in the morning, and this feeling eases during the day. A difference that lasts all day, that keeps increasing or that gathers on a single tooth is not explained by the appliance. In that case both the fit of the appliance and the other possible causes should be assessed.
This content is for general information and does not replace an in-person examination. Symptoms overlap between conditions, and a diagnosis can only be made clinically.