What does this mean?
While you chew, the muscle comes under an increasing workload, and that workload calls for increased blood flow. If the blood flow does not meet the demand, the muscle runs out after a few mouthfuls. The tiredness, or the feeling of fullness, builds the more you chew and eases within a few minutes once you stop.
The distinguishing point is the timing of the pain. Pain that is already there when you wake up and rises and falls through the day fits the pattern of muscle pain. Tiredness that is absent at rest, appears at the same point every time once you start chewing and disappears when you stop is a different pattern; this is called jaw claudication.
This second pattern is often explained by muscle fatigue. However, if you are over 50, if the artery in your temple is tender to touch, or if you have a new type of headache, weight loss or a change in your vision, inflammation of the temporal artery should also be considered. With that possibility, assessment should not be put off, because loss of vision can be permanent.
The tiredness may come from the muscle, from the joint or from the vessel that supplies the muscle; what decides which one it is comes down to your age, the findings that go with it and whether the tiredness starts at the same point every time.
Likely causes
What helps at home?
- Break meals into small mouthfuls and leave hard, long-chewed foods aside for the time being.
- Note how many mouthfuls it takes for the tiredness to start and how many minutes it takes to pass once you rest; this information is useful at the examination.
- If you have new pain or tenderness to touch in your temple, do not try to deal with it on your own with painkillers.
- Stop chewing gum; it is not expected to rest the muscle, it increases the load instead.
- If you are over 50 and have new pain or tenderness in your temple
- Blurred vision, double vision or brief loss of vision
- Your scalp hurting when you comb your hair
- Fever, night sweats, unintended weight loss, or stiffness in the shoulder and hip girdle
- Marked restriction in opening your mouth added to the tiredness
Frequently asked questions
- Could this just be from chewing too much gum?
- It could. Long spells of chewing gum, hard foods and a clenching habit tire the chewing muscles; in that case the tiredness fluctuates through the day and eases noticeably with rest. Even so, if the tiredness starts after roughly the same number of mouthfuls every time and never varies, this pattern needs to be assessed by examination.
- Why does inflammation of the temporal artery concern a dentist?
- Because the first and sometimes only complaint is the jaw tiring while chewing, and people come to the dentist thinking it is a jaw problem. A dentist keeping this possibility in mind and referring you to the relevant specialist the same day can be decisive in changing the outcome for your vision.
- It does not happen every day, only on some days. Is it still important?
- Being intermittent does not make the picture unimportant. Muscle-related tiredness can fluctuate with your sleep, with how tense you are and with what you have eaten that day. If you are over 50, or if findings such as headache, tenderness in the temple or a change in vision go with it, it needs to be assessed even when it comes and goes.
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.