Jaw Pain and Covid - Yes, There's a Link

It's tough to imagine jaw pain and Covid-19 have too much in common. But the reality is that according to (1), incidence rates of painful TMJ Disorders were over 3 times higher post covid than pre covid. How can that be?

Before we go on, it's important to note that there can be no causation inferred, because there simply isn't enough data gathered on this topic. But it might help understanding what might be causing the uptick in TMD cases that dentists swear upon.

First, there's the infection itself. in some cases, poor respiratory health has been shown to influence TMJ Disorders due to improper tongue and lower jaw posture. But for most people, the Covid infection itself did not last long enough for such symptoms to have arisen. 

There is some speculation that long term mask wearing may have played a hand at the increased rate of TMDs. The reasoning for this is that the lower jaw posture while wearing a mask puts the jaw and muscles in an unnatural position for long periods of time, as well as requiring some frequent "adjusting" motions that were used to readjust the mask position on the face. Both may certainly induce TMJ Disorders. 

But unfortunately, the most realistic answer as to why Covid seems to have increased the prevalence of TMJ Disorders in the population is simply because of the stress that people may have experienced during the pandemic. While this answer is often annoying and unsatisfactory for us people with jaw pain (because it provides little to no solution), it does do a good job in describing statistical trends.

This is because the link between stress and Bruxism (clenching) or grinding is well documented. For example this study (2) shows those with stress or anxiety are 97% more likely to develop bruxism. And furthermore, Bruxism is a well documented cause for TMJ Disorders due to the constant overstimulation of the jaw muscles and forces on the joint. 

So if you were wondering why it seems like all of a sudden everyone has TMJ, these might be some of the reasons. 

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10552226/ 

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7793806/

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