terrible pain in my jaw and teeth. any ideas?

Question

I have had a BAD pain in my jaw (right where it opens) feels like I have a tooth ache in all my lower teeth. The weird thing is it is mostly in my left side. No other symptoms. I have bad sinus problems but even when they aren't bothering me this pain is crazy! I was checked for T.M.J. the dentist thought for sure.(but no) I had xrays done. I have no cavities. It's been about 1yr. since it started. went away now it's back. Ibuprofen helps a lil but I'm taking too many. Thanks alot!

my dentist say's I grind my teeth,which I probably do. yes, I am under alot of stress. I tried the $400 mouth guard(didn't help at all) went to a dental surgen. I am 36.think I already have my wisdom teeth.

Answer 1

You might not have been clinically diagnosed as having TMJ but it sounds similar. Are you under stress? You may be biting down really hard in your sleep. The dentist can give you a mouthpiece for TMJ that might help you. Meanwhile, you need to ask yourself, "Am I going through anything right now that may be causing me to stress out?" It could be something that you don't think is a bid deal; but when you sleep it comes out. You may need to speak to a therapist only to help identify the stress, so you can deal with it. I want to assure you that you are not nuts! There is something that is bothering you on a subconscious level. The therapist will help identify it so you can overcome it. In the meantime, maybe try a sleeping aid and continue to take a pain med when it hurts. If you chew a lot of gum, stop for awhile and see if it helps.

I hope this was helpful.

Answer 2

I'm glad that you're looking for the cause and not just trying to fix the symptoms.

Three possibilities exist, one we could more than likely rule out.

1. TMJ. See a chiropractor about that - if it's caused due to bruxism, subluxation or jutting, the chiropractor will be able to fix that and not all dentists are savvy to that.

2. Wisdom Teeth. These are common and can become impacted into the jaw. Mine caused awful jaw pain that caused me to have to drink my food through a straw. The surgery was fun (not). Moral, if this is it, don't wait 'til the Last minute.

3. Abscess. I think we could rule this out due to how long it's been going on - but I guess it's worth the thought.

In summary - get another dentist...who sends their patient out to be in pain for a whole year? If he couldn't find the problem, he should have referred you out. That's what being a doctor is all about. If you can't fix it, find out who can or tell the patient, "Hey, we don't know what the world is causing this, sorry there is no solution now" ... but most of the time there is a solution (actually there is always a solution, they just might not know what it is).

Only use antibiotics IF IT IS NECESSARY. Antibiotics are harmful!!!!

Go to www.ACAToday.com and look under "TMJ" and see if you might be experiencing that. You can then find a good doctor of chirpractic near you.

Don't forget to chose a "best answer"

Answer 3

There are trigger points that you will have to have one finger in and one out of your mouth as well.
Sinus - try a little horseradish on a cracker

Much pain is from muscles below is an example of what may help (based on headaches).
Begin with a couple swigs of molasses or a couple of bananas (natural muscle relaxers) daily - magnesium (which regulates many things in the body) and potassium (a needed building block for muscles).
Drink at least 1/2 gallons of water per day. Running a body low on water is like running a car low on oil is the analogy the head of neurology at UCDavis told my husband about 10 years ago.

Now to the cause - muscles - your back, neck shoulders and head have tender spots. They are knots in the fibers of the muscles called trigger points. It makes the muscles tight which makes them press on nerves and other things causing the pain.

The cure - start with a professional massage, (if this does not do it you probably need a chiropractor as well) you will also want to go back over any place you can get to 6-12 times per session up to 6 times per day rubbing (or lightly scratching on your head) every where that is tender until the knots go away. The place where the skull connects to the spine press up under the edge of the skull (to get to those muscles).

For more information read The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Davies. It teaches what to do and where the pain comes from.

Answer 4

You indicate that you've been to the dentist about this but you say nothing about consulting a doctor. It is very common for heart problems to cause jaw pain. However if this has been going on for a year it is not likely a heart attack. It could be angina pain. (not enough oxygen flow to the heart muscle) It could also be blood flow problems such as an occluded artery. You need to consult a doctor about it. Remember that any pain above the waist can be heart related; and women do not always have the classic severe chest pain that men have with heart conditions. In women heart conditions can cause pain just about anywhere above the waist.

Answer 5

Find a dentist who actually knows what he/she is doing with occlusion and get your bite adjusted. You are describing classic TMJ dysfunction symptoms that are probably related to your recent history with braces. Anything that alters the position of the teeth and the way that the teeth come together, including both Invisalign and conventional braces, can affect your TMJ. If treatment is done without regard to proper occlusion (which sounds moronic, but it happens when esthetics is the major concern), it can lead to TMJ problems. If you have a bite problem that is causing TMJ problems and the dentist takes this into consideration, you may be able to get some improvement of the situation. In my experience, virtually ALL patients need some amount of "bite adjustment" by the dentist (me) to be sure that their final result does not cause TMJ problems. Orthodontia generally is concerned with relatively gross degrees of movement and there is little control over the amazingly infinitesimal changes in cusp angulation that can lead to TMJ problems. "Care, skill and judgment" are required to really fine tune the final result. You can have all the x-rays and studies in the world and, unless they were done by a very knowledgeable person who knows what jaw position MUST be used for these studies and who knows how to properly interpret these studies, they would have been a waste of time.

Answer 6

This is caused by stress you need a strong pain pill and a mouth guard at night you do grind your teeth ask you doctor to give you a Strong pain pill get rid of what ever is stressing you and try not to stress when you start stressing take a deep breath and calm down if you need to talk to some one to it this can cause a heart attack so be careful

Answer 7

I had a cracked tooth once that caused those same symptoms. I went to the dentist several times and he kept insisting that it was because I was grinding my teeth at night. (which that could have caused it) He finally took a closer look at my xrays and found a very small crack in my tooth. It was only in one tooth but all my teeth on that side were hurting so bad. He fixed it and the pain went away.

Answer 8

wisdom teeth would show up in xrays... anyone could see them in an xray. I would suggest going to another destist... it's always good to get a second opinion.

Answer 9

Well if the dentist don't know and you have had ex-rays done I don't think too many people on here are going to know either.....maybe your dentist can reccommend another type of doctor for you to see.

Answer 10

had the same thing but I took antibiotics if I spelled that right any ways that helped alot try that oh yeah they never new what mine was either