Hannah Berner’s Botched TMJ Treatment: What Really Happens When Jaw Pain Goes Wrong

TMJ treatment gone wrong is rare, but the consequences can be serious: stiffness, altered bite, and difficulty smiling or laughing for months. The good news? Most TMJ problems are very manageable when caught early and handled by the right team.

Last week, comedian and podcast host Hannah Berner shared a video that stopped a lot of people mid-scroll. Her smile looked frozen. Laughing was visibly difficult. The culprit, she explained, was a TMJ treatment that didn’t go the way she expected. The clip spread quickly, and suddenly thousands of people with their own jaw clicking, soreness, or bite questions were typing “TMJ treatment gone wrong” into search bars. We get it. Your jaw is not something to mess around with.

So here is a straight-talk guide to what TMJ disorder actually is, what can go wrong when it’s mismanaged, what good treatment looks like today, and how to know if your jaw symptoms deserve a closer look.

What Is TMJ Disorder, and How Common Is It?

TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint, which is the hinge connecting your lower jaw to your skull. You have one on each side, just in front of your ears. These joints do an enormous amount of work every day: every bite, every word, every yawn runs through them.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are a family of conditions affecting those joints and the muscles around them. According to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, TMDs affect roughly 11 to 12 million adults in the United States, and they’re more common in people between the ages of 20 and 40. Women are diagnosed more often than men, though researchers are still working out exactly why.

Common symptoms include:

• Clicking, popping, or grinding sounds when you open or close your mouth
• Jaw soreness, especially in the morning
• Headaches or earaches that seem to come from nowhere
• Difficulty fully opening your mouth
• A bite that feels “off” or has shifted
• Jaw locking open or closed

Many people have mild, occasional TMJ symptoms that never need formal treatment. Others develop persistent pain or mechanical problems that really do need professional attention.

What Actually Happened with Hannah Berner?

Hannah Berner went public with a video showing that after her TMJ treatment, smiling and laughing felt physically stiff and constrained. She described the experience in her own words as the procedure leaving her smile “frozen.”

We won’t speculate about her specific diagnosis, the exact treatment she received, or name her provider, because we don’t have those details and it wouldn’t be fair or accurate to guess. What we can say is that what she described is consistent with a recognized pattern: when injections are used near the muscles of mastication (the chewing muscles) and the results spread to adjacent muscles responsible for facial expression, temporary stiffness can follow. This is a known, documented complication.

To be clear, this does not mean every TMJ injection is dangerous or that anyone offering them is reckless. It means the muscles of your face and jaw are closely interconnected, the technique matters enormously, and informed consent should include a real conversation about what can go wrong.

What Can Go Wrong with TMJ Treatment?

The biggest risk in TMJ care isn’t one specific treatment. It’s jumping too quickly to aggressive or irreversible interventions before conservative options have been tried. Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Starting with injections or surgery too soon

Botulinum toxin injections (often called Botox) into the masseter or temporalis muscles can genuinely help some TMJ patients by relaxing overactive muscles. But they should generally be a second-line or adjunct treatment, not the first thing someone tries. When injections are placed without a thorough evaluation, or when the dosing isn’t right, the effects can spread to nearby muscles that control smiling, blinking, or lip movement. That’s almost always temporary (typically a few weeks to a few months), but it’s distressing, especially for someone in the public eye.

Altering the bite irreversibly

Some older approaches to TMJ focused on aggressively reshaping the teeth or using permanent appliances to change how the upper and lower teeth meet. If the diagnosis was wrong, or if the bite correction overshoots, it can create new problems that are harder to fix than the original ones. The current standard of care, backed by guidance from the American Academy of Orofacial Pain, strongly favors starting with reversible treatments.

Skipping a proper diagnosis

TMJ symptoms can mimic a lot of other things: ear infections, sinus pressure, tension headaches, cervical spine issues. Treating “TMJ” without imaging or a proper clinical evaluation risks treating the wrong problem entirely, or missing something that needs different care.

Over-relying on a single provider type

TMJ disorders can involve the joint itself, the muscles, the bite, stress-related clenching, or some combination of all of these. The best outcomes usually come from a team approach: a dentist experienced in orofacial pain, sometimes a physical therapist, and occasionally other specialists working together.

What Does Good TMJ Treatment Actually Look Like?

Here’s the reassuring part: the large majority of TMJ cases get significantly better with conservative, reversible treatment. The goal is to reduce pain, restore normal movement, and protect the joint from further stress.

A night guard (occlusal splint) is often the first and most effective tool. Worn during sleep, it cushions the joint and reduces the load from clenching or grinding. At our South San Francisco office, we can fabricate custom-fit night guards precisely sized to your bite. If you’ve been waking up with a sore jaw or headaches, a custom dental mouth guard is often the single most helpful thing you can do first.

Lifestyle and self-care go further than most people expect:

• Eating soft foods during a flare
• Applying moist heat or ice to the jaw
• Avoiding wide-open jaw movements like big yawns or large bites
• Being aware of daytime clenching (many people do it without realizing, especially during stress)

Physical therapy targeting the jaw and neck muscles has strong evidence behind it. Stretching, manual therapy, and postural correction can reduce TMJ pain meaningfully for many patients.

An occlusal adjustment may be appropriate when the bite is genuinely contributing to symptoms. This is a conservative, carefully calibrated procedure. If our dentists recommend it, they’ll walk you through exactly what it involves and why before anything happens. You can read more about this approach on our occlusal adjustment page.

Referral when needed: If conservative treatment isn’t moving the needle after several weeks, or if imaging suggests a structural problem inside the joint, referral to an oral and maxillofacial surgeon or orofacial pain specialist is the right next step.

How Does a Dentist Actually Evaluate TMJ?

A good TMJ evaluation at our office isn’t a one-minute look-and-go. It includes:

• A detailed history of your symptoms: when they started, what makes them better or worse, whether you grind or clench
• Hands-on examination of the joint and surrounding muscles for tenderness, range of motion, and joint sounds
• An assessment of how your teeth come together (your occlusion)
• X-rays or, when indicated, a referral for CBCT (cone-beam CT) imaging to see the joint structures in detail

From there, you get a real explanation of what’s going on and a treatment plan that starts conservative and escalates only if needed. No pressure, no upselling, no skipping steps.

Should I Be Worried About My Jaw Clicking?

A little context helps here. Jaw clicking on its own, with no pain and no limitation of movement, is extremely common and often doesn’t need treatment. Studies suggest that joint sounds without other symptoms can be present in a sizable portion of the adult population and never cause problems.

You should have your jaw evaluated if:

• The clicking is accompanied by pain, soreness, or swelling
• You have difficulty opening your mouth fully
• Your jaw has locked, even briefly
• You’re waking up with headaches or a tired jaw
• Your bite feels different than it used to
• The sounds have gotten louder or more frequent over time

Earlier attention usually means simpler treatment. Waiting for symptoms to become severe before seeking care is one of the patterns we see lead to more complicated cases.

One More Thing Hannah’s Story Gets Right

Whatever the specifics of her situation, Berner did something genuinely valuable by talking about it publicly: she showed that jaw problems are real, that treatments carry real risks worth discussing, and that it’s okay to ask hard questions before you agree to any procedure. That kind of informed, engaged patient mindset is something our team genuinely welcomes. Ask us what a treatment involves. Ask why we’re recommending it over something else. Ask what happens if it doesn’t work. Those are exactly the right questions.

For more on how the American Dental Association approaches TMJ and temporomandibular disorders, their clinical guidance is a solid starting point.

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Frequently Asked Questions About TMJ Treatment

Is Botox for TMJ safe?

Botulinum toxin injections into the jaw muscles can be an effective treatment for certain TMJ patients, particularly those with severe muscle-related pain or nighttime clenching that hasn’t responded to other approaches. When performed by a trained provider using appropriate doses and injection sites, serious complications are uncommon. That said, it’s important to have a thorough evaluation first, and to discuss all possible side effects, including temporary effects on nearby facial muscles, before proceeding. It should generally not be the first treatment tried.

How long does TMJ treatment take to work?

Conservative treatments like a night guard, soft-food diet, and muscle stretching can start reducing symptoms within a few weeks. More significant improvement often takes two to three months of consistent use. If you’re not seeing meaningful improvement after eight to twelve weeks of conservative care, that’s a good time to check back with your dentist or ask for a referral.

Can TMJ go away on its own?

Yes, in many cases. Mild TMJ flares, especially those triggered by a stressful period, illness, or temporary behavior change (like chewing gum excessively), often resolve on their own within weeks. However, symptoms that persist, worsen over time, or involve joint locking or bite changes are less likely to self-resolve and benefit from professional evaluation.

Does grinding my teeth mean I have TMJ disorder?

Not automatically, but the two are closely linked. Bruxism (teeth grinding and clenching) puts significant stress on the temporomandibular joint and the surrounding muscles. Over time, untreated bruxism can contribute to TMJ pain, worn enamel, cracked teeth, and headaches. A custom night guard is often the first line of defense for both conditions. If you suspect you’re grinding, it’s worth mentioning at your next dental visit so we can check for signs of wear.

Have jaw pain or clicking? Schedule an evaluation with our team.

Written by the Vaksman Dental Group team and medically reviewed by Dr. Irena Vaksman, DDS — South San Francisco. Last reviewed August 2026.