I have had trigeminal and occipital neuralgia for the last 8 months. I have had an MRI scan to confirm this and i have taken several medications and now am on Gabapentin. I have difficulty eating food but my Dentist (whom I have seen once in the last 8 months) says it is not related to my teeth. Any suggestions please ................
I have the tooth pain too and my dentist also found no problems with my teeth! I've just been trying to have foods that are soft and don't need too much chewing! I can't have anything hot either, I'm really missing my morning cuppas :(
Trigeminal Neuralgia often presents as pain in the teeth. I've talked with many patients who have had multiple root canals or teeth extracted even though there was no evidence of abscess in high definition dental X-rays. When pain shifts from one tooth to another after an extraction, it may be called 'atypical odontalgia'. But this label is not particularly illuminating as it means simply "unusual tooth pain".
Treatment of TN pain in the teeth is much the same as in any other part of the face. Please see our "Face Pain Info" tab on the menu above for further in-depth information.
Regards and best,
R.A. "Red" Lawhern, Ph.D.
Resident Research Analyst, LwTN
Pain in the teeth is where I get MOST of my TN pain. Teeth, jaw, tongue. When it's bad enough, I simply can't eat at all... or drink, or talk. Triggers are in my bottom lip, my gums and under my eye - sometimes.
If your TN is 'just' on one side, try (TRY) to eat on the one side that doesn't hurt. Avoid ANYTHING crunchy... (Chips, peanuts...)
If your pain gets TOO bad, you can try baby food.
One thing I will say - something I have to remind myself of... drink water. Even though it may hurt.
Good luck;
Tooth/Jaw pain sufferer here. My last attack obliterated my lower jaw and tongue. Since it was a new type of attack I actually thought something had dislocated and I absolutely panicked. In my experience dentists seem to be at a loss as to what to do other than try and appease the patient who just wants the pain to stop (aka "Just pull the tooth...any tooth!). Your mind can really play tricks on you though and will try to convince you your tooth is rotting or in danger even though you know it is the TN.
Jon is quite right about soft foods. I drank shakes until my flare up abated. Took about three days and even now I am avoiding tough meats or anything I have to open my mouth wide to eat. Also, what Jon said about triggers. Good info.
I also get pain in my teeth, gums and roof of the mouth.
When eating is difficult I have been making some blended soups (veggies and lentils) and have also made some fruit and spinach smoothies with protein powder.
Sometimes it is just too painful to be bothered but Jon is right, it is important to keep up the water.
Hope the pain improves.
Hugs
Trish
thanks all for your comments however I still wonder if my neuralgia could have been started by dental issues ????
Hi I to get a lot of my pain from my teeth I have sharp shooting pains even when I close my mouth, it starts in one tooth then ends upon all my top teeth and bottom and my jaw so painful sometimes I just don’t know what to do with myself when I have n attack I just want to scream! I do try to think of positive things ths does help
My was a deep cleaning did me in going on 6 months of this crap…
Most of my pain are in my teeth gums and pallette. I was in remission for almost 5 years until I had a tooth pulled last August. Lo and behold, it came back with a vengeance. Now I wonder if the tooth pulling caused it, or if the tooth pain to begin with was the TN and my tooth came out without needing to. For whatever reason, so not fun. I can't eat or drink anything extremely cold or hot. I really miss ice cream. If I drink cold drinks, I have to drink with a straw and put it all the way to the back of my mouth. I went 3 days without eating during my last episode (before I started my meds). The breakthru pain that I have now is always in my teeth/jaw area. I hope you feel better soon. And good luck finding the answers you are looking for! ~Tina
Thanks everyone for your comments it is nice to know I am not alone in this ........sorry "Cleo" what does AO stand for? I am in the UK
Ny, my Type I pain is nearly all related to a tooth, it has also visited my lip at times. There is an area no bigger than a match head that has such intense pain it knocks me to my knees. It is where my tooth meets my gum.Sorry you are struggling with eating. I also struggle to drink and even breathing can be problematic when my pain is at its worst.
NY: "AO" is Atypical Odontalgia -- essentially a variant of trigeminal neuropathic pain that presents almost entirely in the teeth or just below in the jaw. The term isn't very useful as it means literally "unusual tooth pain".
Regards, Red
Mine did. Don’t know if science has answers yet or how important it is where it started. I wish I could say something beyond “I can imagine, I really can”
NY said:
thanks all for your comments however I still wonder if my neuralgia could have been started by dental issues ???
Thank you Red....thanks also Ernette. I appreciate that where the pain started is not thee most important issue to a sufferer (pain management etc is) however I do wonder what I can do to "prevent" further episodes of this damn life changing condition!!! I feel angry at the moment that possible something as simple as me keeping on top of my dental health and having a tooth filed can have caused 8 months of hell.........:(
Red, out of curiosity are you a sufferer of Neuralgia as well as being a Doctor or do you have an interest in this from your work?
NY: I'm the spouse of a bilateral TN/ATN patient, and the former webmaster of the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association (late 1990s-2001). My doctorate is in systems engineering, not medicine. However, I was an information miner, operations research analyst, and training developer for several years of my career before retirement. The work I do as a moderator here is purely volunteer, a continuation of nearly 17 years of patient advocacy and person to person research support.
Regards and best,
Red
All I did was try to get a crown on my tooth on the left side finallly fixed after 2 years of being broken and more had broken off in december of last year. I have had ATN since January of 05 on my right sidde. Well the shot given on my left side apparently hit a trigger point on my tri nerve and caused 6 mutltiple electric shockse in my cheek and my tooth lower left front. Along with pain on that back left tooth and ear pain and burning pain in the front now between my chin and lower lip and all around my mouth also both side in the back of my tongue at the bottom. I am now bilateral because of this since January of this year. All because I wanted to get a crown on my tooth to fix the broken one. I had just gotten everythin under control too. Now I am on trileptal, and just added amitriptylene for the burning and aching around my mouth and percocet. I also take effexor and topamax. I will never get another shot in my mouth. If I have to do any work on the lower teeth it will be under anesthesia.
Blah, Min
Before I was diagnosed I went to my dentist and she took xrays and checked...no problems. I do not chew anything substantial on that side and I dare not drink anything cold (even cool) or too hot. I do alright with a straw most of the time, and I really sip hot liquids. Most of my pain feels like someone is hammering a spike into my teeth or jaw. I am thankful my dentist is not pull happy, she avoids pulling teeth at all cost, and did not want to send for root canals.
I can totally sympathize with the tooth pain comments. I have throbbing pain in my upper back teeth that moves around. Full X-rays and panoramic X-rays found no decay or cavities. I still feel like there just has to be something wrong with one of those teeth. I have had a root canal in one and fillings in the other two. I just want them yanked out. But I know it won’t make a difference.
YehJen…it totally bites. Feel soo trapped…I feel for you dear. 