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Mystery toothache PLEASE PLEASE HELP!

S

spicyporkchop

Junior member
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
5
I posted a few weeks ago about a mystery toothache. So far no relief or answers.
Please could any dentists reading this or patients who have suffered similar problems please comment with ideas. Many many thanks
History to date:
1. very slight toothache in first lower left molar (on and off) which already has a small filling
2. becoming slightly more uncomfortable but nothing major - annoying more than anything
***Visit dentist - no pain when biting, no pain to cold, no pain when tapping***
3. becomes uncomfortable enough for me to need to start taking painkillers intermittently
***Visit dentist again - book in to have filling removed to have a look***
4. pain remains the same - no pain when biting or to cold or when tapping. Just becoming more constant and starting to bother me more and more.
***At my next dentist appt my dentist decides that she isnt convinced there is a problem as no decay on xray and does not re-do the filling***
5. find a small half a pea sized lump under my jaw, painful to touch. Inside of cheek is sore.
6. my wedding day comes around and although it was pain free during the day and the sore cheek has gone it starts hurting at night and I try to sleep in off - starting to cause minor earache and pain in neck when turning my head in different directions
7. wake up, pain minimal, cheek still ok. Book appt with GP as starting to think its not dental related. She put me on 250mg of Erythromycin 4 times a day. This has helped a little but not as much as i thought i would/should.

Just to confirm still no pain when biting, no pain to cold, no pain when tapping - just a constant dull toothache which started in 1st lower left molar but now I have a painful jaw to the way to my ear, some earache and some discomfort when turning my head. Jaw pain emanating from under the teeth at the bottom of the jaw.

If any one can advise on this I would be very very grateful. I dont know what else to do. Book another dentist appt maybe?
ANY advise or support would be wonderful - it might not be excruciating pain but after weeks and weeks at around a 6/10 it starts to get you down - it feel like at any moment it will erupt into hardcore pain :(
 
I am not a dentist but some of your symptoms sound like TMJ. Sometimes the TMJ can cause toothache pain in teeth as a type of referred pain. Maybe you should investigate or seek out a TMJ specialist.
 
Hi,

it is not clear to me whether the pain intensified with any kind of stimuli (biting, opening the mouth or even sleeping) or is it more or less constant.
It does not sound like a TMJ problem though.
 
I am not a dentist, but if I were you I'd get a second opinion and sooner than later. Spreading pain as evidence of possible infection is never a good thing, as well as a swelling lump in your mouth. You don't need decay to have an abscess, last I knew. Certain abscesses don't start at the base of your roots.

That said, a trip to a regular doctor to examine other factors is probably also in order. It pays to get to the root of this mystery.
 
What type of filling (white or silver) and how long ago was it done? If recent, have dentist check your bite, sometimes if the filling is even <1mm over filled it will affect your bite force distribution. If filling is high and you bite on that tooth first long term can cause chronic inflammation due to traumatic occlusion (bite). If silver filling, sometimes xrays cannot see if there is recurrent decay under old filling because silver fillings are very radio-opaque (bright white) compared to cavitie that show up as dark shadows on xrays. If there is recurrent decay underneath the old filling the tooth will have increased nerve damage, and as the nerve dies it will cause the dull throbbing pain as well as swelling you are experiencing. Also, sometimes teeth crack with long term use. Are you a grinder or clenched? Cracks or microfractures can also lead to nerve damage but are often very difficult to see with the naked eye and xrays will usually show nothing. Have your dentist do a bite stick test as well and a cold test with endoice. If the tooth is experiencing these symptoms, regardless of the diagnosis the treatment will be either a root canal or tooth extraction
As well have your dentist do perio probing (measuring of gum health) to check if it is a gum issue..often if there is moderate to severe gum disease it may feel like a toothache. In your case the symptoms don't really sound like it but good as an elimination test.
 
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