Most weeks, someone sits in my chair, opens carefully, and asks: my jaw clicks — is it broken? The short answer, most of the time, is no. The honest answer takes a few paragraphs, and it begins with a small disc of cartilage doing quiet work.
The joint you hear is the temporomandibular joint, just in front of your ear. Inside it is a small disc that helps the joint move smoothly. A common cause of clicking is that the disc shifts and then returns as the jaw opens, but a sound alone cannot tell us the exact diagnosis. In the absence of pain, locking, or a change in how your teeth meet, a click is a finding, not a diagnosis. Painless jaw-joint sounds are common and generally do not need treatment.1,2
When it matters: when the click becomes a catch; when the jaw locks open or closed; when pain arrives and stays more than a couple of weeks; when your bite suddenly feels different. Those are the moments to be seen — not because disaster is likely, but because early attention keeps small problems small.
What not to do: don’t test the click repeatedly to check whether it is still there (it is), don’t chase it with gum, and don’t accept an irreversible treatment for a painless sound. If someone proposes reshaping teeth or surgery for a click that doesn’t hurt, ask for the second opinion first.
- Schiffman E, et al. Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders for Clinical and Research Applications. Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache. 2014;28(1):6–27. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24482784/
- National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. TMD (Temporomandibular Disorders). Last reviewed November 2025. https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-info/tmd
Correction — July 30, 2026: An earlier version gave a numerical prevalence estimate for jaw-joint sounds and described one mechanism too categorically. The passage was revised to distinguish a common explanation from a definitive diagnosis and to align the reassurance with current NIDCR guidance.