Lower Left Jaw Pain After Dental Work

[Countryant]

I am an anxiety sufferer, but I am not sure how much of this is anxiety and how much is actual dental issues.

Over the last 4 or 5 months, I have had dental work done to fix 1 worn down tooth and to fill 5 cavities. the last two procedures was to fill cavities in the back bottom left molars a couple of months ago and two molars on top 2 weeks ago. Those bottom teeth still have some sensitivity to them. 2 weeks ago and I had the two upper left back molars filled and they are still showing sensitivity, which I understand is normal.

The problem I am having is now lower left jaw pain. It started pretty much the day after the last two upper molars were filled. The pain is not constant, and comes and goes. The closest I can compare it to is it feels like an achy tooth, but it runs along the bottom left jaw between the bone and teeth, almost to the chin. The pain was so bad, along with my anxiety one day, that I went and had an EKG done to make sure I wasn't having a heart attack. The EKG came back clear.

I went back to my dentist, who did more x-rays and some sensitivity testing and could find nothing wrong. They told me to stay in touch if it persisted. I spoke with my GP, and after telling her my symptoms, she said it sounded like they may have hit a nerve with a numbing injection and it may take time to heal. The pain had not been coming as often the last few days, and I was hoping it was just as my GP stated and it is getting better. But...

Last night, I woke up around midnight and my left jaw was aching pretty badly again. The pain was about an 8 on a 1-10 pain scale, with 10 being worst. It lasted what felt like a few minutes and finally started to go away. There is an occasional feeling like numbness or light pain in my jaw muscle, where the jaw hinges on the left side, but it is very light and most of the time not noticable. It comes and goes as well. Lower jaw pain from the top or bottom work? I just don't know what's going on.

At my last dental visit, they checked the bite and said it looked okay and no visible infection or problems in the teeth or gum line. I'm just not sure what it could be, but it is worrisome. Any advise would be awesome today. I am just wore out from lack of sleep and stressing over this thing. Thanks in advance!

 

[carriss]

Hello, sorry you're having such a horrible time. I have experienced nerve damage recently, so I thought I'd let you know what mine has been like so you can compare.
My problem started last April on the lower left side after dental work. For the first 3 months I had pins and needles/numbness from the corner of my lip to my chin on the left side. After 3 months the numbness turned to pain which is sometimes burning and sometimes aching.
If this sounds anything like yours, ask to be referred to an oral surgeon. There doesn't seem to be much they can do, but they can prescribe medication which does help to a degree (gabapentin, pregabalin).
I hope you feel better soon.

 

[Countryant]

Hey there. Thank you for the reply. Not much with pins and needles on my end of things, some numb feeling occasionally,but it isn't extreme. More just intermittent pain, it just hits from time to time. I have noticed a few times it may activate with hotter or colder temps around the teeth, but not so much lately as I avoid getting hot or cold on the left side of my mouth as much as possible. The pain last night has really thrown me. If it continues, I will definitely look into the oral surgeon route.

 

[carriss]

The oral surgeon said that most cases of nerve damage repair within 3 months. I guess I was just unlucky. Give it some time and see what happens. At least you've been reassured there's nothing wrong with your teeth.

 

[Countryant]

I'm sorry you have had to endure that much pain. I don't know of much else that hurts like dental issues. An ear ache maybe. I'll keep you in my prayers. Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[jwetsu]

Hey there! Sorry you're having such a horrible time! I don't know if you've seen my threads or not, but I've been going through the same thing. I had some dental work done almost four weeks ago and the same thing happened to me, only on the right side. My jaw hurt terribly! I called the dentist and the said x-rays looked good and they'd check everything out when I had my cleaning. Went in for my cleaning a couple days later and both the dentist and hygienist said everything looked great and that they were pretty sure I had pulled a muscle in my jaw from having to keep my mouth open for so long. My hygienist said the same thing happened to her as well after some dental work once. Thankfully, after three weeks, my jaw pain has improved. During those three weeks of pain I took Advil and used heat to help. I'm still having sensitivity around the teeth I had fixed (two crowns), but I was told today by a lady at my dentist office that she's pretty sure it's normal and not to be worried (I too suffer from anxiety). Hang in there and I hope you feel better soon!