Numbing Trigeminal Neuralgia

[ucdcrew]

I guess my recent ridiculous pain is due to a nerve issue called Trigeminal Neuralgia. I was all ready to let the dentist do a root canal - whatever it took to get rid of this pain! He did not find any indications of teeth causing the pain in my mouth, and had me follow up with my doctor. My doctor put me on a seizure medication for it, and it seems to be working fairly well. I can still feel it, but now it feels like I turned the volume down on a TV, much quieter. Its been about 4 days.

Anyhow, when I was there I made an appointment for a cleaning which is in 10 days. They're going to do a gingivitis cleaning and a laser to kill bacteria because I had a few 4mm pockets (rest 2 and 3). One of the things that triggers the pain is lightly touching the gums on that side. If they numb it, will that keep it from sending zaps of pain down my face? Or should I reschedule until after this flare is controlled? I'm not sure if I'm making excuses to not go to the dentist or if it will legitimately make it worse. I don't see the neurologist until after that appointment unfortunately.

 

[LittleLynnie]

After having had TN myself, I would postpone the dental cleaning until after you see the neurologist and ask him how a cleaning will affect you right now. I would guess that it would be fine, but because I know how truly awful the condition is and the pain that it can inflict, I personally wouldn't take that chance. And just FYI, I had the neuralgia for two years, but while on the anti-convulsants, only felt the stabs in a very minor and dull way (it took a long time to be diagnosed though, and those months were agonizing). It was good that I could still feel them in a minor way though, because that also let me know that they had stopped and I could stop the drug too. That was all 35 years ago, and I've not had any trouble since. Where's the "knock wood" emoji?

 

[ucdcrew]

Thanks - I will reschedule. It's pretty scary to me, I need to stop reading all the horror stories. The pain was so bad that I was ready to let him drill right then and there, even though I usually need sedation of some sort. This is a new dentist for me, and he's a keeper. It was weird, I didn't have the fight or flight response with him that I usually get - he used and LED light so I wasn't staring into the overhead lights, and let me keep on the xray blanket the whole time.
He's also a guy, so it was impossible for him to smother me with his....chest which is one of the things I remember from my terrible experiences with my childhood dentist. Feel free to laugh at that - I find it hilarious. I also think they might have been fake, as they were very out of proportion and I literally remember thinking that my mom's didn't hurt when she would hug me. I think I should probably pick men dentists from this point out.

 

[Enarete]

It was weird, I didn't have the fight or flight response with him that I usually get

Great to hear that you have a great dentist, this is the most important part. In my experience there are dentists that manage it to calm patients and awake trust just by their presence and it sounds like your one is one of this kind. I can imagine that it feels weird if you have been used to fight or flight whenever seeing a dentist.

 

[jon_rwr]

ucdcrew, I'm a bit late to this thread but I hope you re-scheduled. I had TN around 10 years ago now and it truly was the pain from hell. It did eventually stop but I'd to take Tegretol to deal with the it. It's also good you know where the trigger point may be as many folks don't. With me it was top right on upper cheek.

I remember one night pacing the corridor in this apartment block due to the intense pain. For a weird reason just walking around helped because I think it was a distraction. In the block was an elderly dentist who met me in the corridor and asked what was wrong. He then drove me to his surgery and numbed me up. Thanks to him I had a night's undisturbed sleep which was a rare thing during those episodes. I remember him telling me that he saw one or two folks every six months or so who came looking for help with toothache when he had to refer them to a doctor as the teeth were OK and he felt sure it was TN.

Jon