I was reading this thread about TMJ and someone mentioned how a symptom is a popping noise in the jaw. I’ve noticed for about 2 years if I move my jaw left to right I hear a weird pop noise sort of like when I crack my knuckles. The only time I’ve experienced pain is when eating hard chips, after a little it starts to hurt on every pop. Otherwise I feel no pain from it. Is this something to worry about?
In my opinion, no.
Your story sounds very similar to my experience. Somewhere around age 10 I noticed that I could make a “popping” sound in my jaw, coming from the Temporo Mandibular Joint. It happened every time I yawned or opened my mouth too wide. I soon discovered which things aggravated it (in my case, chewing gum) and I avoided those things. I have absolutely no “popping” or TMJ symptoms today.
And the popping sound from the TMJ has the same cause as the sound you get when you crack your knuckles. You’re creating a partial vacuum when you stretch the joint, and this causes cavitation of the fluid that’s in the TMJ.