When a dentist asks you to bite, tap your teeth, or move your jaw from side to side, they are checking how your upper and lower teeth meet and how that contact changes with movement. They may also look at your teeth and dental work, ask what you feel, and use thin marking material called articulating paper.
The colored marks are clues about where teeth touched during that particular movement. They do not, by themselves, prove that your bite is unhealthy, show exactly how much force each tooth received, or identify the cause of pain. A useful bite check brings the marks together with your symptoms, the rest of the examination, and the reason the bite is being checked.
What does “checking your bite” mean?
Your bite, or occlusion, describes how the upper and lower teeth relate when they come together and during jaw movement. Our separate guide explains what occlusion means in dentistry in more detail.
A bite check is not always the same examination for every person. A dentist may be checking:
- whether a new filling, crown, or other restoration contacts the opposing teeth
- how your teeth touch when you close in your usual position
- what happens as you move the lower jaw forward or to either side
- whether a contact seems repeatable over several taps
- whether tooth wear, damage, tenderness, or jaw symptoms add important context
- whether what the dentist observes matches what you feel
The goal depends on the visit. A quick check after dental work is different from a broader evaluation of pain when biting, jaw discomfort, tooth wear, or a bite that suddenly feels different.
Why does the dentist ask me to bite and tap?
The dentist needs to see what happens when you close your jaw. You may be asked to close normally, tap a few times, hold your teeth together briefly, or move your lower jaw forward and from side to side.
These instructions let the dentist observe contacts in more than one position. Repeating a movement can also show whether a mark or sensation appears consistently. If you are numb, tense, reclined differently than usual, or unsure where to close, tell the dentist. What you are experiencing is part of the information they need.
You do not have to bite as hard as possible unless the dentist gives a specific instruction. If a movement hurts, say so rather than repeatedly testing it on your own.
What is articulating paper?
Articulating paper is a thin strip coated with colored marking material. The dentist places it between the upper and lower teeth and asks you to close or move your jaw. Where teeth contact the paper, color may transfer to the tooth surfaces.
The result gives the dentist a visual map of possible contact locations. Different paper thicknesses, moisture, tooth shape, the way you close, and the movement being tested can affect the marks. That is one reason a dentist may dry the teeth, repeat the check, use more than one color, or compare marks made during different movements.
Some offices also use thin foils, waxes, silicone materials, scans, or computerized systems. These tools record different aspects of contact, and research has not established one ideal method that answers every bite question.
What can the marks show?
Articulating marks can help a dentist locate places where teeth appear to contact during the movement just performed. The dentist can then compare those locations with:
- the shape and condition of the teeth
- a recent filling, crown, bridge, implant restoration, denture, or other dental work
- an area you identify as uncomfortable or “high”
- signs of wear, chipping, or damage
- tenderness in a tooth, chewing muscle, or jaw area
- how the jaw opens, closes, and moves
- previous records when change over time matters
The paper is useful because it makes otherwise hard-to-see contacts visible. The interpretation still belongs within the larger clinical picture.
What can articulating paper not prove?
A dark or large mark does not automatically mean that tooth is receiving the greatest force. One clinical study found that the size of an articulating-paper mark was an unreliable guide to the force on that tooth. Other research has found differences between contacts recorded by paper and by digital scans.
The marks also do not diagnose teeth grinding, a jaw-joint disorder, or a harmful bite pattern. Tooth wear, jaw pain, sensitivity, and damaged dental work can have more than one explanation. A mark made during a few chairside taps is a snapshot; it does not show everything your jaw does through an entire day or night.
This is why “there is a mark here” and “this tooth should be adjusted” are not the same conclusion. Before any permanent change to a tooth is discussed, it is reasonable to ask what finding the change is meant to address and what other information supports the recommendation.
How do symptoms fit into the examination?
Tell the dentist what prompted the concern and when you notice it. Useful details include:
- whether a tooth feels high only after recent dental work or has felt different for longer
- whether discomfort happens on the first bite, with firm chewing, or after you release
- whether you can point to one tooth or only a general side
- whether the bite feels different at certain times of day
- whether there is jaw pain, stiffness, clicking, locking, or limited movement
- whether you have noticed clenching, grinding, tooth wear, or a damaged restoration
- whether the change followed an injury
Symptoms do not diagnose the cause, but their location, timing, triggers, and pattern help the dentist decide what else to examine. For example, an evaluation of suspected teeth grinding combines history with tooth, restoration, jaw, and facial findings. A jaw click without pain has a different context from clicking with pain, locking, or reduced movement.
Will a bite check include X-rays or a scan?
Not necessarily. A bite check often begins with your history and a clinical examination. Articulating paper shows surface contact; an X-ray answers different questions about structures that are not fully visible during a direct examination.
Imaging or digital records may be considered when the broader concern calls for them, but no image replaces the need to understand symptoms and examine the mouth. The choice depends on why the bite is being evaluated, what the dentist finds, and whether another record is likely to change the assessment.
Questions you can ask during a bite check
If you are unsure what the dentist is testing, ask. Helpful questions include:
- What are you checking when I tap or move my jaw?
- What do these marks show, and what can they not tell us?
- Does the finding match the area I am feeling?
- Are you comparing this with a previous examination or recent dental work?
- Is the finding consistent when we repeat the check?
- Is there another possible reason for the symptom?
- If you are recommending an adjustment, what is the goal?
- Would monitoring or another assessment be reasonable?
- What change should prompt me to contact the office again?
A routine dental checkup combines history, examination, and conversation in much the same way: one tool or finding is rarely the entire story.
When should you contact a dentist?
Contact a dentist if a tooth or restoration feels newly high, especially after dental work; if you have persistent pain when biting; if a filling, crown, or other restoration feels loose or damaged; or if your bite has changed without a clear reason.
Seek prompt assessment after an injury when your teeth suddenly do not meet as they usually do, particularly with facial or jaw pain, swelling, difficulty opening or closing, or visible damage. Trouble breathing, heavy bleeding that will not stop, or a jaw that appears out of position needs urgent medical attention.
The takeaway
Dentists check your bite by combining your experience with observation of tooth contacts, jaw movement, teeth, dental work, and surrounding tissues. Articulating paper can show where contact marks appeared during a specific bite or movement, but it does not measure the whole bite or diagnose a problem by itself.
If a bite check leads to a recommendation for a permanent change, you can ask what the finding means, what else supports it, and what the proposed adjustment is intended to accomplish.
Sources
- TMD (Temporomandibular Disorders) — National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
- Bruxism — National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
- Insights into Occlusal Analysis: Articulating Paper versus Digital Devices — Journal of Clinical Medicine
- Relationship between articulation paper mark size and percentage of force measured with computerized occlusal analysis — The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
- Reliabilty of recording occlusal contacts by using intraoral scanner and articulating paper - A prospective study — Journal of Dentistry
- Broken or dislocated jaw — MedlinePlus