Best Foods & Diet to Ease Your TMJ Pain

Is your jaw sore when you eat? Do you find yourself avoiding chewy, hard foods or those that require overextending your jaw, like biting into an apple? You may be suffering from inflammation in one or both of your TMJs (temporomandibular joints) and the surrounding muscles and tissues. 

Avoiding TMJ pain by limiting your dietary choices to soft foods can impact your nutritional intake and, ultimately, your health. Read this definitive guide about the best diet and find out which foods and snacks will help you reduce pressure on your TMJ and help you heal faster. 

What is a TMJ?

Your TMJs, located on each side of your head just beneath the ear, connect your jawbone to your skull. They act in unison as sliding hinges, enabling you to open and close your jaw to chew, talk, laugh, yawn, and drink. 

When your TMJs become injured or misaligned due to overuse or trauma, or when excess pressure is placed on them from teeth grinding or clenching, you can suffer from a painful condition called temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD). Symptoms include jaw pain, headaches, tooth pain and sensitivity, jaw lock, earaches, neck and shoulder pain, facial pain, and more. 

TMD treatment ranges from conservative measures such as hot and cold compresses, physical therapy, and massage to medication, including anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers that can provide short-term relief. Custom-made TMJ appliances (dental splints) are one of the most effective and versatile treatments for long-term TMD symptom relief and pain management. They can correct alignment issues, provide TMJ pressure and pain relief, and act as a cushion for your teeth. 

Foods to Avoid When You Have TMJ disorder

Eliminate chewy or hard foods that exert pressure on the TMJs when you eat.

• Baked goods - Many dough-based foods are chewy, especially if they are dense. Cookies can be crispy or chewy, and bagels, pizza crusts, certain rice noodles, and even pancakes require more chewing than you realize. Watch out for soft bread or pastries that tend to stick to the roof of your mouth and thus require excess jaw movement.
• Vegetables - Don’t eat hard, crunchy, raw vegetables. Cook them until soft or puree them instead.
• Meat - Red meats such as beef and pork are fibrous and chewy. Ground beef, pork, or turkey is more tolerable.  You can also try cutting meat into bite-size pieces.  Stay away from larger cuts that require a lot of chewing during a TMD episode.
• Nuts - Hard, crunchy foods like seeds and nuts can increase jaw soreness and other associated TMD pain.
• Chewy sweets - Avoid caramel, taffy, toffee, gummy candies, et cetera.
• Raw and dried fruit - Avoid crunchy raw fruit and dried fruit of any kind, including raisins. 

The Best Diet To Decrease TMJ Pain

Softer foods put less pressure on your TMJs during chewing. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to ensure you’re getting the nutrition your body needs when on a soft diet. 

• Fruits - Ripe melons, soft pears, bananas, applesauce, and canned fruits in 100% fruit juice are good choices. Blend delicious smoothies that contain whole fruits and vegetables. Enjoy stewed tomatoes, marinara sauce over pasta, and tomato juice if the acidity doesn’t bother you. 
• Vegetables - Remove any skins that are tough or chewy. Try cooked winter squash, asparagus, and carrots or pureed soups such as squash, potato, and tomato. Grill peeled summer squash and zucchini slices or strips until they are soft.
• Dairy - Cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir, and soft cheese are easy on your TMJs and offer a source of protein. Dairy alternatives such as soy, almond, flax, rice, and oat milk are also good choices.
• Starches and grains - In addition to mashed potatoes and pasta, add couscous, oatmeal, mashed sweet potatoes, and polenta to your diet. 
• Protein - Red meats like steak and pork chops are too chewy. Instead, choose eggs, tofu, fish, and legumes.  If you’re craving meat, eat soft-cooked chicken with gravy, or try a moist turkey meatloaf recipe with grated versus chopped onions.
• It’s also best to cut portions into small, bite-sized pieces.

Meal and Snack Ideas When Your TMJ hurts

• Breakfast meal ideas - Scrambled eggs or egg substitutes are an obvious choice. Try adding some ricotta cheese and chives to liven them up. Enjoy cooked cereals such as oatmeal and Cream of Wheat, or how about a tofu scramble with hummus?
• Lunch meal ideas - Make creamy squash or potato soup, or enjoy a bowl of smooth, chilled gazpacho. Make a smoothie and add protein powder.
• Dinner meal ideas - Try moist turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and cooked carrots. Or how about semolina pasta cooked just a bit beyond al dente tossed in marinara and served with peeled, sauteed zucchini coins. Enjoy poached salmon served with soft-cooked asparagus and lemony orzo. 
• Snack ideas - Satisfy a snack attack with cottage cheese with canned fruit, smoothies, or applesauce with a dash of cinnamon.
• Dessert ideas - Feel free to eat puddings, custards, Jell-O, ice cream, frozen yogurt, gelato, and sorbet. Or try peeled poached pears or peaches.

Next Steps

TMJ pain isn’t something you should have to live with, and the long-term effects of untreated or undertreated TMD can erode your quality of life.

Dr. Katherine Phillips is double board-certified in orofacial pain and dental sleep medicine. She uses mainstream, evidence-based medical science to identify the contributing factors causing your pain and offer a TMD treatment plan that best fits your needs.