Hi. Just wondering if anyone out there has had lots of ct scans & dental scan in trying to figure out the issue??
I have & am depressed over it. I have had a few MRI’s as well. That I am ok with. The ENT wanted me to have a sinus scan since the last one was 2017. I then bring the disc to the dental school so they can see the ct scan but I still had another panoramic. So I am done. No more. Only MRI’s unless absolutely necessary. The past 4 years different drs & ent drs & dental drs & I just am sick of it. Had extraction done 2 years ago that caused pain so scans for that.
Hi LaLa1234. I get it. I used to go for sinus scans with every flare-up, thinking I had a sinus infection. Then finally, a diagnosis of TN from a neurologist, which at first I didn’t believe until the TN progression was so bad, I landed in the hospital. Do you have a diagnosis?
Been through all that as well. Seen dentists, endodontists, oral surgeons, ENT specialists and 4 different neurologists. Lots of xrays, MRIs, Scans, tests. On and on.
It is depressing.
I just get nervous because It feels like a lot & it is what it is. I just hate it. I keep getting past back & forth & specialty blaming the other specialty. My sinus does have junk in it low level & I have high roots. Then I get a tooth pulled & more pain & xrays. 4 years later still figuring it out. Have issues in lots of areas in my face so it’s been fun lol
Well I think I have more than 1 thing going on. I do have junk in my sinus which could be sinus or dental related. My roots are high up so not sure if tooth 14 is the culprit or if I do have a low grade thing flogging on in my sinus. I had scans & it just says cyst, or polyp, low level inflammation & nothing about an active infection. The dental scans don’t show infection with tooth 14 either. Then I had tooth 12 pulled which caused more pain & issues so not sure if I have nerve issues with that. Then my lower left jaw I have a cracked tooth not sure if that is causing my issues. It’s horrible when it flares. My nose is sore too but that may be a separate thing.
Whether it’s the right thing to do or not I want to get the cracked tooth out. I am getting a CBCT scan on tooth 14- even though it’s been scanned again the dental school wants it. Once I find out what’s up if its the tooth I will take care of the tooth. If it’s not showing tooth then I will most likely do sinus procedure. If sinus procedure doesn’t work then maybe nerve. It’s up in the air with me with diagnosis. 4 years of trying to get my stuff sorted
I know how you feel. A high percentage of TN sufferers—especially atypical TN trace the beginning of pain back to a dental procedure. I’ve had so many MRIs, I think the center had a rubber stamp made up with all my information. There is no evidence of a compressed nerve, so I am diagnosed with atypical.
Have sinus infection can exacerbate the pain, or it might be the whole problem. Try to get the sinus thing cleared up.
Have any of the doctors put you on any of the usual trigeminal meds?
So I pulled 2 teeth last year hoping it would be the issue. The last extraction was brutal with pain that started 10 days after it was pulled. I am getting a CBCT scan wed. On tooth 14 b/c it’s roots are high up & if it comes back an issue I will deal with that otherwise I guess sinus procedure which I really want to avoid but I guess I have no choice. I wish I didn’t do some procedures so I am tossed. ENT thinks the polyp is located in an area causing my pressure so who knows. The dumb polyp can grow back anyway. But what The inflammation in sinus has been going on for so long I worry it will do damage to the surrounding bones if I don’t do something.
I always think if I get this sorted I will feel the biggest weight off of my shoulder!! But yeah I Have heard nerve pain for my tooth extraction so far xrays show it healing fine. The dentist put a collegian plug in & I always wonder if that didn’t agree with me but the dentists say no unlikely.
In my experience, a dentist will always deny any procedure causing trigeminal neuralgia. Most of them don’t have a clue how to deal with it.
I hope you can find a solution. It isn’t unusual to have to go through trial and error to get to the bottom of the problem since it is a process of elimination for diagnosis.
Have you found anything to bring relief?
Lala with atypical trigeminal neuralgia it is quite common for the sufferer to run a dental campaign of tooth pulling and root canal work, thinking, hoping, this will alleviate the situation. It won’t. I stopped at one extraction… the trigeminal nerve is damaged ( in my case). Not that there’s any direct evidence of this besides the pain. I had many scans and x rays. It’s what you do. Finally I moved to acceptance. There is not going to be a cure. I have to integrate this “thing” into my life. Difficult. There are a few drugs that help some people. There is pain relief. Try them all. But again you will have to make peace with your situation. It does not get easier. It is a continual mental struggle to stay on top of things. You are however not alone.
Hey Lala,
One of my MANY diagnosis has been TN. I say ‘MANY’ because every dr I have seen has a differing opinion, including dental. I have a nasty growing in my brain and it has been operated on 6 times (So far) and after the first couple of surgeries I came back OK, not great but I recovered enough to return to ‘life’. Then came the 3rd operation and OMG the pain has been off the scale since. Initially I was told it was medication related, so I cutback on the meds. It wasn’t medication. Then I was told it was ‘nerve pain’, then I got a diagnosis of TN. I tried all sorts of treatments from dental to a TENS machine to hydrotherapy to Bowen therapy to acupuncture to manipulative physio to hydrotherapy and a whole chemist store of meds. None were my ‘key’.
I have found that for some TN is not well defined and sometimes when a pinpoint diagnosis is difficult TN can be a fall back diagnosis. ie if it’s not ‘A’ and it’s not ‘B’ then it must be ‘C’, with ‘C’ being TN. But TN, like nerve pain and like headaches can have many causes/effects, some of which even the dr’s have no answers for.
And still today, I have no direct answer. I just put it all down to ‘it’s just my head’. I say it’s the surgeries but the medicos won’t have any of that, their view is ‘we operated, we fixed’, but this is far from fixed. BUT
Having tried every option for treatment, every medication I’ve got to a point where I have to accept and manage the best way I can. Some days that acceptance is easy, other days it’s far from it. The reality is we have no control over it, we have to manage the best way we can, what ever that looks like.
Just know you are not alone
Merl from the Moderator Support Team
Hi. Thank you for your reply. I hate seeing others suffer. Everyone’s journey is so different but we all have the trying to get answers & different procedures & trying different meds. I am labeled Atypical. Some of of stuff may be cured or relieved by a sinus procedure or a tooth procedure. Then I learned the hard way the last extraction was a nightmare. I guess I have. Hard time accepting it & think if they opened the extraction site maybe there is an issue there. My lower jaw is another area… horrible nerve pain but I still think it’s gotta be that cracked tooth! Or the tooth behind it. So for me mentally I have a huge problem with accepting it. I just want to explore & I know that is not always good but what if I find something?
I am sorry you had to go through a lot. It is mentally draining. I tried chiropractic therapy this year & just finished my planned sessions. Now I want to try acupuncture. It’s comforting to know I am not alone but wish we can all feel like our old normal selves.
