Hi, I have TN1, currently in remission. I have it in my teeth/jaw on the right side. Recently I developed twinges of pain in my upper left teeth that I thought might be a cracked tooth. I went to the dentist and he spotted some small areas of decay on root canals, under crowns on that side, but he felt they were “arrested”, i.e. not actively decaying, so he wasn’t unduly concerned by them. He also thought perhaps a wisdom tooth might be pushing on the teeth in that area.
However, since my visit I am no longer getting the biting pain and instead I am getting a steady burning sensation on that side of my face which moves about and then late at night centres on my ear and the hinge of my jaw. This isn’t the first time I 've had this. I got it a few years ago for which I had a root canal of a suspect tooth but it didn’t help. In time the pain simply went away. I never found it what was going on, if anything.
Just to make things even more complex, I have dental phobia so anxiety around my teeth can make me get psychosomatic pain. This doesn’t feel like that though simply because it’s always there. I’m sure I’ve read of a neuralgia that produces burning pain in the jaw and ear on this forum. Am I imagining this?
If anyone has something similar to this or knows what it might be I’d be really grateful for any information. I’m due to go to the dentist in a day’s time and he’s going to pull the crown off to check underneath. Needless to say, I am not keen on this! So if anyone has any ideas I’d love to hear them. Many thanks!
P.S. If there is a related type of neuralgia that sounds like this I’d love a name so that I can check it out. Ta!
Hello, I also have the deep pain in my left ear and it becomes so painful that I cannot lay on that side. I talked with my dentist concerning all the pain in my gums. I have no original teeth, just denture in my mouth. ( lowers due to bone loss) My dentist said my pain is from the trigeminal nerve pain moving into my mouth. I also talked with my internist about my tongue being so painful I cannot stand for it to touch any part of the inside of my mouth. She says it is from my tn also. Now for the good news. I do not have the horrible pain I used to have. However, I now have so much burning, stabbing, and stinging pain in my face, jaw, behind my eye, and the bridge of my nose is so painful I feel I could slice it off with a knife and it would not hurt as badly. My neurologist wants another Mri and I have cancelled twice. I do not know if I am allowed to say this or not. But I hope this is okay. I used to pray to die. Then while I was asking God to let me die, my heart realized that my pain was not what Jesus endured for me. So I acknowledged that and asked for forgiveness and asked for grace to bear the pain. Guess what? The horrible pain subsides and is no longer as severe. I say this only in hopes this can help someone who feels they have no one else to turn too. Thank you for listening.
Hi Noona, thanks for getting back to me. I went to the dentist again today and we think what I actually have is a wisdom tooth getting near the surface and it’s hurting the gum and causing the pain (that combined with some sinus problems!) So it looks like maybe God has been on my side too - fingers crossed! That’s the trouble with TN - once you have it your anxiety goes into overdrive at every new facial ache or problem!