Updated September 6, 2026
Waking up with a tight, tired or sore jaw can make it feel as though you spent the entire night tensing your face. If you clench or grind your teeth while sleeping, the obvious question is: how do you make your jaw relax when you are not awake to control it?
The answer requires an important distinction. You cannot consciously tell your jaw to relax once you are asleep. Sleep bruxism is involuntary jaw-muscle activity that occurs during sleep. What you can do is address habits and symptoms while you are awake, create a more comfortable wind-down routine, investigate factors that may be contributing to the problem and protect your teeth when necessary.
What does a relaxed jaw feel like?
While you are awake and not eating or swallowing, your teeth generally do not need to be held tightly together.
A comfortable resting position usually feels more like:
- jaw muscles relaxed rather than braced
- upper and lower teeth slightly apart
- lips resting comfortably without force
- no deliberate pushing of the jaw forward or sideways
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) specifically recommends increasing awareness of daytime clenching and using reminders to keep the teeth apart when unnecessary tooth contact has become a habit.
That strategy applies to awake bruxism. It is not a way to consciously control what your jaw does after you fall asleep.
Why does my jaw feel tight after sleeping?
Sleep bruxism is one possibility, but morning jaw tightness is not specific enough to diagnose it on its own.
Bruxism can include grinding, clenching and other jaw-muscle activity during sleep. People with more frequent or forceful activity may experience jaw-muscle fatigue, soreness or dental damage.
But morning jaw discomfort can also occur with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), dental problems and other conditions.
If jaw pain rather than grinding is your main concern, our broader guide, Why Does My Jaw Hurt?, explains several possible causes.
Can you train yourself not to clench while sleeping?
Not in the same way that you can interrupt a habit while awake.
Awake bruxism and sleep bruxism are considered distinct behaviors. With daytime clenching, you can become aware that your teeth are touching and consciously allow the jaw to relax.
During sleep, that conscious feedback loop is unavailable.
This is why statements such as “practice relaxing your jaw during the day and you will stop grinding at night” are too strong.
Daytime awareness is still worthwhile—especially if you clench while concentrating, driving, working or feeling stressed—but improvement in an awake habit does not guarantee that sleep bruxism will disappear.
1. Notice what your jaw is doing during the day
If your jaw feels tense at night or in the morning, start by observing it while you are awake.
Periodically ask yourself:
- Are my teeth pressed together right now?
- Am I bracing my jaw while concentrating?
- Am I biting my lips, cheeks, pens or other objects?
- Do I clench more during stressful or demanding parts of the day?
If you notice unnecessary tooth contact, gently let the teeth separate and allow the jaw muscles to soften.
Phone reminders, sticky notes or computer alerts can help bring an automatic daytime habit into awareness. NIDCR specifically recommends this type of reminder for people who clench or grind while awake.
2. Give an overworked jaw a break
If the jaw muscles are already sore, repeatedly loading them can make them feel more fatigued.
During a painful flare, it may be reasonable to temporarily reduce activities such as:
- chewing gum
- very chewy foods
- habitual nail or pen biting
- unnecessary wide opening
- deliberate jaw clenching exercises
NIDCR recommends reducing habits such as clenching and gum chewing as part of conservative self-management for jaw-muscle and TMD symptoms.
3. Try comfortable heat or cold before bed if your jaw is sore
NIDCR includes heat or cold among simple conservative options for jaw-joint and muscle discomfort.
That does not mean a warm compress will stop sleep bruxism. Its role is more modest: it may simply make a sore or tense jaw feel more comfortable before bed.
Use whichever feels better to you, protect the skin from extreme temperatures and stop if it worsens your symptoms.
4. Use gentle relaxation rather than aggressive jaw stretching
There is a difference between relaxing a tense jaw and aggressively stretching or strengthening a joint that has not been properly evaluated.
Gentle breathing, meditation and other relaxation techniques may be helpful for some people, particularly when they notice that stress increases their awake clenching or muscle tension.
What we do not recommend is forcing your mouth as wide as possible, pulling downward on the jaw until it hurts, repeatedly pushing the jaw sideways or deliberately clenching against resistance.
Physical therapy can be useful for some people with jaw pain, TMD or associated headaches, but research specifically evaluating physical therapy as a treatment for bruxism remains limited and heterogeneous.
If you want to try jaw movement exercises, see our evidence-focused guide: Jaw Exercises for Teeth Grinding and Clenching: What May Help.
5. Create a calmer transition into sleep
A bedtime routine cannot guarantee that your jaw will remain relaxed all night. Still, giving your body a consistent transition from daytime activity into sleep may be worthwhile.
That might mean dimming stimulation toward bedtime, allowing time to unwind and choosing a relaxing activity such as reading, gentle stretching, breathing exercises or meditation.
NIDCR includes relaxation techniques and stress management among strategies that may help some people with bruxism.
The wording may help matters. Stress is associated with bruxism, particularly awake bruxism, but it is not the single explanation for every case of nighttime grinding.
6. Look at caffeine, alcohol and smoking if they apply to you
Bruxism is multifactorial, and several lifestyle factors have been associated with it.
NIDCR advises people managing bruxism to avoid smoking and consider reducing caffeine and alcohol.
That does not mean one cup of coffee or one alcoholic drink is the cause of your grinding. Associations vary among individuals, and sleep bruxism cannot usually be traced to one behavior.
If you are curious about alcohol specifically, see Alcohol and Teeth Grinding: What’s the Connection?.
7. Consider whether a medication change coincided with the clenching
Certain medications have been associated with bruxism, including some medicines used for depression and ADHD.
If clenching or grinding began—or became noticeably worse—after starting a medication or changing the dose, discuss that timing with the clinician who prescribed it.
Do not stop, reduce or change a prescription medication on your own because of suspected bruxism.
8. Don't ignore signs of a sleep disorder
Sleep bruxism and obstructive sleep apnea can occur in the same person, although their relationship is complex and grinding does not diagnose sleep apnea.
If nighttime clenching or grinding occurs alongside:
- loud habitual snoring
- witnessed pauses in breathing
- gasping or choking during sleep
- significant daytime sleepiness
discuss those symptoms with a medical professional.
A conventional dental night guard is not a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.
What about your sleeping position?
There is no proven sleeping position that reliably switches off jaw clenching or treats TMD.
If one position puts uncomfortable pressure on an already-sensitive jaw, changing position or adjusting your pillow may make you more comfortable. But you do not need to force yourself to sleep on your back because you have bruxism or TMD.
We look at this question in more detail in Side Sleeping & TMJ: Does It Make Jaw Pain Worse?.
Will a night guard relax your jaw while you sleep?
A night guard's most predictable role is protecting the teeth, not consciously or permanently relaxing the jaw.
A properly fitted guard separates opposing teeth so they do not grind directly against one another. This can help protect against wear, chips, fractures and damage to dental restorations.
NIDCR notes that oral appliances may also reduce jaw-muscle activity in some people, but they should not be described as a guaranteed way to stop bruxism.
A conventional night guard should also not be described as:
- repositioning the jaw into a permanently “correct” position
- realigning the TMJ
- curing nighttime clenching
- guaranteeing relief from jaw pain
- treating obstructive sleep apnea
If you are waking with tooth wear or suspect nighttime grinding, our guide to mouth guards for grinding and clenching explains when dental protection may make sense.
What if you clench primarily during the day?
If most of your clenching happens while you are awake, awareness and behavior change become especially important because you have an opportunity to interrupt the habit.
When tooth protection is also needed, Sentinel's No-Show Day Guard is designed as a slim, low-profile barrier for people who clench during waking hours. Its role is to help protect the teeth from tooth-to-tooth pressure—not to make you stop clenching automatically.
Daytime clenching and sleep bruxism are different behaviors, so the appropriate approach depends partly on when the jaw activity is occurring.
What if you wake up with jaw pain even though you wear a guard?
A guard can protect the teeth without necessarily eliminating jaw-muscle activity.
So waking with soreness does not automatically mean the appliance has failed.
However, a guard that causes new pain, significant tooth pressure or a persistent change in the way your teeth fit together should be evaluated rather than simply worn through the discomfort.
Jaw pain can also have causes unrelated to bruxism, which is another reason persistent symptoms deserve a proper evaluation.
How do I know whether I'm actually grinding in my sleep?
Morning jaw tightness alone cannot confirm sleep bruxism.
A dentist may consider your symptoms, tooth and restoration damage, jaw-muscle tenderness and whether a sleeping partner hears grinding.
In selected situations, polysomnography—a formal sleep study—can assess jaw-muscle activity during sleep while also evaluating other sleep-related conditions.
Our guide How Do I Know If I'm Grinding My Teeth at Night? goes deeper into the evidence.
When should a sore or tight jaw be evaluated?
Consider seeing a dentist or healthcare professional if you have:
- persistent or worsening jaw pain
- progressive tooth wear or repeated damage to restorations
- chipped or cracked teeth
- significant tooth sensitivity
- jaw locking or increasingly limited opening
- a persistent new change in your bite
- pain that regularly disrupts eating or sleep
Seek more prompt care for severe dental pain, significant facial swelling, fever or signs of infection, a broken or loose permanent tooth, or major symptoms following facial or jaw trauma.
The bottom line
You cannot consciously command your jaw to remain relaxed once you are asleep.
What you can do is become more aware of daytime clenching, reduce unnecessary jaw activity, use gentle comfort measures when the muscles are sore, create a calmer transition into sleep and investigate contributing factors when symptoms persist.
If sleep bruxism is damaging your teeth, a night guard may provide valuable protection. But protection and prevention are not the same thing: the guard does not need to stop every clench or grind to protect the teeth from direct contact.
And if you consistently wake with significant jaw pain, the most useful question may not be simply “How do I relax my jaw?” but “Why is my jaw sore in the first place?”
Sources
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). Bruxism.
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs).
Souza AISDO, Raposo J, da Silva JB, et al. Physical therapy interventions for awake and sleep bruxism: What has been the approach over the last decades? A systematic review of the evidence and research gaps. Dental and Medical Problems. 2026.
Amorim CSM, Espírito Santo AS, Sommer M, Marques AP. Effect of Physical Therapy in Bruxism Treatment: A Systematic Review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 2018.
Melo G, et al. Effects of different interventions on bruxism: an overview of systematic reviews. Sleep and Breathing. 2024.
Editor’s note: Updated September 6, 2026. This article was substantially revised to distinguish awake from sleep bruxism, clarify what can and cannot be consciously controlled during sleep, remove aggressive DIY jaw exercises, update guidance about physical therapy and self-care, and clarify that night guards primarily protect the teeth rather than repositioning the jaw or reliably stopping bruxism.
This article is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized dental or medical care.