Not sure what's going on and I could really use some insight

General General TN & GPN (Old Site)
1

Hi all,

I've been lurking around here for the past 2 weeks and decided to join since it seems like an educated, helpful group of people.

I almost feel guilty posting here since what I am experiencing pales in comparison to most experiences that I read about here.

Around Dec 22nd I started getting serious pains on the right side of my fac e. I couldn't tell which tooth it was and it seemed to shift between upper and lower. I was told this was not unusual. The xrays showed nothing in the way of infection. Then on the 24th the pain was out of control and the upper 2nd molar was very sensitive to touch and when I drank ice water the pain went away instantly for about 2 minutes only to come roaring back. Needless to say I drank a lot of water that day. I went to the wife of a friend of mine who is a dentist since my regular dentist was closed for the holidays. She opened the tooth and said that it was black inside and even I could smell the infection. Great, we had the right tooth.

She opened the tooth, cleaned it and repacked it giving me 10 days of antibiotics which I took. The pain went away slowly over the next 4-5 days.

I went to see my regular dentist on Jan 3rd and he reopened the tooth and cleaned and filled the canals (which was a very painful process). I left the office with a very sore tooth and a very sore cheek.

The pain slowly faded after about 6 days but where the cheek was painful it began to burn. Quite mild mostly and it would come and go. In fact I bought some skin moisturizer since it felt like severely dry skin.

The burning sensation began to move and it would sometimes be around my eyebrow and sometimes in my cheek or infront of my ear. Sometime it was my lower jaw. Always on the right side.

MY dentist admitted one of the canals was overfilled but he said this could not be causing my problem since it is no where near the nerve. My doctor disagreed saying he's seen this before from dental work and it will likely go away, though it may take weeks or months.

As of now I have a mild burning sensations most of the day but it goes away when I sleep only to start up again minutes after I wake up. I also get brief achey pain in the tooth. What's interesting is the sensations move rapidly. My cheek burns for a minute then maybe nothing then my forehead will burn for a minute then my chin and around and around. Does this even make sense? To move so rapidly?

As I said this pales in comparrison to TN or ATN from what I've read but believe me it scares the crap out of me and it's very distracting. I'm going to see an endodontist next week for an opinion if maybe the overfill is causing a problem and if it can be fixed but I don't really want anymore dental work. (I have quite a history of crowns that goes back about 3 years)

Currently I'm still hoping this is going to get better. Thanks for listening

2

Of course the dentist is going to say that.... to admit anything else is to have a potential malpractice suit. I smell CYA all over that response.

Follow up for sure. I believe that it is possible and even probable that the dental procedure led to this.... or it's secondary to the infection which could have inflammed the nerve. That nerve is a touchy thing. My TN pain was centered around a tooth that was NOT infected, didn't even have a cavity. I am in remission.

My GP told me when I was diagnosed that not every experiences TN as an ongoing terrible disease. He said in his experience, most of his patients with it experienced a prolonged period of TN pain and then it went away never to return. Fewer people have it in cycles. Fewer experience the ongoing pain like those on here.

Regardless, don't feel bad. What you are experiencing is real. It is painful. And it is life effecting.

3

Thanks so much for responding. Aside from my GP, you're the first person I've talked to that said this might go away. God I hope so. Today I started getting some pains in my lower teeth as well. That really freaks me out but I have been clinching my teeth so I wonder if it's that contributing.

Do you think the nerve inflamation might go down on its own? Has anyone seen that happen. My GP said give it a few weeks so unless it gets worse I guess I can do that.

Thanks for the validation. I doubt myself if it's real sometimes. Where did it come from, you know. One day you're fine and then you're not. I don't know, it sucks. I know it's reletively low grade but I can't do anything without it bothering me.

4

Montos if the pain is bothering you that much then you are fully justified in being a member here and seeking advice. Some nerve pain can recede. Fingers crossed you fall into that category. Did you know that if you have a positive response (i.e. diminished pain) to TN meds then that often confirms a diagnosis. It may be worth considering a short course after discussion with your GP.

5

Yes, when I got improvement with a med known to help TN, that basically confirmed the dx.
If you have shocking intermittent pains, that is more like TN 1. Ongoing pain is more like TN 2, which some call “atypical”. I hope you are ok

6

I would ask Dr. for Rx of Lidocaine mouthwash for inside - and Rx of Lidocaine cream or patches for topical relief

Has helped many here --- could use until you get more answers Seems weird it would work on nerve pain - but it did for me!