I am REALLY CURIOUS. I had several very typical TN attack(s) . Three weeks after the first attack the back tooth in the "line of pain" had a filling that dropped OUT.
Since the TN attacks my left cheek has been twitching on and off. The tooth with the missing filling was sensitive about a week ago during a painful "attack", of TN or the nerve in the tooth, I do NOT KNOW.
I had an MRI/MRA with and without contrast and am waiting for the results. I have a dentist appointment on Monday to address the tooth with the missing filling.
MY QUESTION IS: Could TN have zapped the filling out? It was about at least 10 yrs old (the filliing)
OR
is it all in my teeth?
WILL THE MRI/MRA tell if it's TN for sure? I have a history of peripheral nerve problems and no history of teeth issues.
I really need an answer. This is one bizarre symptom and it is horridly painful. My heart goes out to ALL OF YOU TN'ERS.
Love Julie
Hi, Julie
TN and ATN are normally diagnosed based solely on what kind of pain you have and whether there are any discrete traumas that might otherwise account for your pain as some form of nerve damage. My guess would be that your filling falling out was probably coincidental, but at most only a "precipitating incident" in the emergence of your pain (not a "cause"). MRI is useful for confirming that your pain isn't associated with a tumor or other internal malignancy, and it can tend to add credence to a diagnosis of Typical TN (Burcheil Type I). But there are no medical tests that confirm TN.
Regards, Red
Thank you Red. I feel comfortable and a bit relieved with your response. If the filling was still IN at the time of the first TN attack and even if the tooth was going bad from the inside, the nerve of the tooth was NOT exposed at the time of the TN attack which means that the tooth and loss of the filling was not the cause of the TN.
Thank you very much. Logic is sometimes so evasive...you turned me around and I appreciate it. You are wise and kind to answer my post. I was not feeling very comfortable here at first but I feel much better now. Thanks for the response. You ROCK, Julie