Yes, a chiropractor can assess TMJ and jaw pain. At The Shift, a TMJ visit checks how your jaw opens, tracks and sounds, along with your neck, upper back and posture. Care uses gentle joint work and soft-tissue work on the jaw muscles. If your exam points to your bite, your teeth or your ears, we tell you and refer you to a dentist or an ENT first.
Same-day appointments are often available — a doctor is in the office six days a week.
History. Clenching or grinding, whether you wear a night guard, recent dental work or braces, any blow to the face or head, headaches, how you sleep, and how many hours you spend at a screen.
Exam. How far your jaw opens and whether it shifts to one side, clicking or popping, the jaw muscles (masseter, temporalis and the pterygoids), your upper neck, and your posture at a desk.
Report of findings. What we found, in plain language, and whether it looks like a chiropractic problem at all. If we recommend a plan, you get its total cost in writing before you agree to anything.
Care. Gentle mobilization of the jaw joint, soft-tissue and myofascial work on the jaw and neck muscles, and upper-neck adjustments where the exam calls for them. Every technique is explained before it’s used, and force is matched to what you tolerate. You also leave with things to do at home: a resting jaw position, a way to catch daytime clenching, and changes to your desk setup (desk setup calculator).
Jaw pain, clicking and limited opening are miserable to live with, and the pattern usually involves the neck and upper back as well as the joint itself. We assess the whole region before recommending anything, and the total cost of any plan is shown to you in writing before you agree to it. Same-day appointments are often available — a doctor is in the office six days a week.
Book an assessmentBoth doctors see jaw and TMJ visits. Dr. Ben Glass sees patients Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, in English and Spanish. Dr. Irina Velichko sees patients Monday, Wednesday and Friday, in English and Russian. Not sure which day suits you? Which doctor should I see?
Jaw pain has several sources, and some of them aren’t ours to treat. Start with:
Call 911 for jaw pain that comes with chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating or nausea. Jaw pain can be a sign of a heart problem.
It’s often both. A dentist looks at your bite, tooth wear and whether a night guard would help; we look at how the joint moves, your neck and the muscle load. We’re glad to work alongside your dentist.
Both doctors see babies and children. For newborns, we offer gentle cranial care that supports your family’s tongue-tie care team: your pediatrician, a dentist or ENT, and a lactation consultant. We don’t diagnose, release or treat tongue-tie, and we don’t promise changes in feeding or breastfeeding; those questions belong with that team, and we work alongside them. More on pediatric care at The Shift.
Jaw pain often travels with neck pain, tech neck and tension headaches. How care works, step by step.
Chiropractic care addresses TMJ problems with a mechanical part: restricted movement in the jaw joint itself, and the upper-neck and muscle patterns that often come with it. Clenching, upper neck tension and forward head posture feed each other, so the exam covers your neck, upper back and jaw together. If your jaw pain looks mainly dental, we’ll say so and refer you.
A history, then an exam of how your jaw opens, tracks and sounds, the jaw muscles (masseter, temporalis and the pterygoids) and your upper neck. Care combines gentle joint work, soft-tissue and myofascial work, upper-neck adjustments where the exam calls for them, and things to do at home for clenching and jaw position. Technique is matched to what you tolerate.
Clicking usually means the disc inside the jaw joint isn’t tracking smoothly as your jaw opens and closes. It’s common and, on its own, not necessarily a problem. It matters more when it comes with pain, locking, limited opening, or a change in how your teeth meet. Those are worth having assessed.
They’re often linked, in both directions. The muscles that close your jaw attach to your skull, and sustained clenching loads the temple and the muscles at the base of the skull, a common pattern behind temple and base-of-skull headaches. Upper-neck restriction also changes how your jaw sits and moves. That’s why we look at both.
Often both, because they look at different things. A dentist looks at your bite, tooth wear and whether a night guard would help. We look at joint movement, your neck and muscle load. If your history points to a dental cause, start with your dentist; we’ll tell you so rather than treat around it.
We can’t tell you before the exam, and you should be wary of anyone who gives a number before examining you. Clenching from stress behaves differently from a joint restriction. After your exam you get a clear picture of what’s going on and a specific plan, with its total cost in writing before you agree to anything.
Jaw work is gentle and slow, and we explain each step before we start. The jaw muscles can be tender when they’re pressed, so tell us what you feel. We adjust pressure to what you tolerate, and you can ask us to stop at any point.
As of October 2026, a first visit is $135. It includes the exam, your first adjustment and a follow-up report-of-findings visit; an adjustment at that follow-up visit is billed separately. Visits after that are $60–$80, depending on whether you’re on a care plan or paying per visit. Confirm current prices when you book. We don’t bill insurance directly; HSA and FSA cards are accepted, and payment plans are available. Full cost guide.
Patient Testimonials
The Shift Chiropractic holds 4.9 stars across more than 200 Google reviews, written by patients seen in English, Spanish and Russian.