Worried about what to do next after a mystery pain

[Anxious in the chair]

Hello. Sorry for the essay, I've just been dealing with this for almost a year!

I had a bit of pain in a back molar on my lower jaw (like a dull ache that comes and goes) and I kept going to my dentist who couldn't see anything and gave me fluoride treatments because he thought it was sensitivity. Eventually part of the tooth that was giving me trouble broke off. I immediately felt relief as the pain stopped. My dentist said it just needed a filling and not a root canal. After he filled it (with a composite filling) I could not floss around the tooth which made me really worried. I went back to my dentist and he said I don't need to floss around all my teeth (??) but eventually forced a piece of floss around it and said it was fixed. The tooth immediately started to feel weird - I can feel a jagged edge with my tongue and when I floss around it, my floss gets caught in something and always shreds. It also felt like food went inside it when I was eating. The tooth felt fine after the filling but is now sensitive to cold (like a flash). When food gets caught between the problem tooth and the wisdom tooth it really hurts.

I kept returning to my dentist - he tapped the tooth and asked me to bite on something hard but there was no pain. I asked him for an x-ray - I had one and it didn't show anything. The dentist gave me some antibiotics and asked me to return after 10 days. He also asked me to gently massage my gum area with a manual toothbrush. I did all this but the dull aching didn't subside. My dentist said "sometimes this happens" and just basically didn't want to deal with me anymore really.

I decided to go to a doctor in case it was sinus related or something - he gave me a nasal spray, ibuprofen and paracetamol to take. The ibuprofen dose was quite high - 800mg per day. I took this for 4 days and the pain went away and only came back sporadically for a period of around 6 weeks.

It has now returned - again coming and going, sometimes I need to take an ibuprofen and sometimes it flares up and then goes away on its own. It flares up if I am stressed. If I take 400mg of ibuprofen the pain goes away for 24-36 hours.

I plucked up the courage to go and see a different dentist who was very kind and listened to my whole story because I said I was really nervous. He took new x-rays (panoramic and periapical). He said that the filling I have is very deep and close to the filling and that is causing the problem. He said that because my tooth is sensitive to cold it looks like I will need a root canal. I asked him if it is possible there is something wrong with the filling itself - he said that it doesn't look great and that the contact points (?) have not been done very well but he doesn't think those alone are enough to cause the cold sensitivity (because they are far away from the nerves). He said if it was just the aching he would think it was just the filling.

I am so upset. I don't want a root canal because I feel like it's another weak tooth in my mouth (I have had one root canal before due to a cracked tooth and I knew I needed it because I had a gum boil). I know this might sound stupid but I really wanted to save this tooth and just have a normal filling. I've asked this new dentist if it's possible for him to just redo the filling or fix the contact points - he said he can do that and then if I prefer we can monitor it and see if the aching and sensitivity gets any better. I prefer this course of action but of course I am now worrying that I've just made another stupid mistake. I wish I knew what the 'right' thing to do was, but I guess there is no 'right' when a diagnosis is difficult or unclear.

 

[Gordon]

I prefer this course of action but of course I am now worrying that I've just made another stupid mistake. I wish I knew what the 'right' thing to do was, but I guess there is no 'right' when a diagnosis is difficult or unclear.

I think it's a reasonable thing to do. I'd have suggested getting a second opinion after your first dentist's answer about the floss, but you've done that already.

 

[Anxious in the chair]

Thanks for your reply Gordon. It helps to know that the course of action sounds reasonable. The other thing I forgot to mention is that my jaw pain is accompanied by crackling in my ear, headaches and tinnitus. And my jaw clicks! I spoke to the second dentist again today (as after debating things I decided to make an appointment to fix the contact points). Before he did anything I told him about my other symptoms because I had read that a problem with the jaw can also cause sensitivity. He said the crackling etc could also be to do with my wisdom tooth or something like TMJ but that he doesn't think it would cause such localised sensitivity in the molar tooth in front of my wisdom tooth. So I am wondering now if it is possible that I have two problems that are separate from each other?

I went ahead and got the contact points fixed on the 'problem' filling today - I was so nervous my hands were shaking but I did alright in the end. He was really kind and said he'd like to monitor the progress for two weeks. If the sensitivity and aching doesn't reduce he said he would suggest a root canal but if it does reduce (even a little) he said that he would then monitor the progress for longer. I have my fingers crossed that it sorts it out...really wishing and hoping.

 

[Gordon]

I forgot to mention is that my jaw pain is accompanied by crackling in my ear, headaches and tinnitus. And my jaw clicks!

Pretty classic TMJ symptoms. See our page on TMJ here: https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/faq/tmj-pain/

he doesn't think it would cause such localised sensitivity in the molar tooth in front of my wisdom tooth. So I am wondering now if it is possible that I have two problems that are separate from each other?

I agree and yes, 2 different problems simultaneously could be the answer.