DH teeth/jaw

[Nogodsnomasters]

My DH has sleep apnea and for the last 6 months has had a painful jaw so we believe he is grinding his teeth or clenching in his sleep, his dentist said if it's not causing his teeth any pain then he would not provide a mouth guard.

Fast forward to last week my DH googled TMJ as his jaw was particularly painful and read about some stretches to try with his mouth and jaw which he practiced for 2 days and from Thursday afternoon has had extremely painful teeth top and bottom on one side of his mouth which painkillers aren't touched.

He got an emergency appointment with the dentist on Friday who x-rayed all the teeth on that side and said there is definitely no infection, decay or holes etc and this pain has been caused by the stretches, obviously advised to stop them, eat soft food, try not to open his mouth wide, massage the jaw on the outside and try to contain even yawns etc and if this didn't improve in 2 weeks he would next provide a mouth guard.

It's been 5 days and my DH is still in agony, he's taking the maximum paracetamol and nurofen doses each day and using a hot water bottle and following dentists instructions but he's barely sleeping due to the pain.

Sorry this was long winded, didn't want to drip feed. Has anyone been through this and can suggest anything? He can't carry on like this, it's effecting his ability to work. Thanks.

[Nogodsnomasters]

Bump, anyone?

[Mumof1andacat]

Contact 111 to see what they see but they might suggest a trip up the hospital.

[Nogodsnomasters]

Thanks for replying, we're in northern Ireland so don't have the 111 service. I'm not sure what a hospital could do.

[Mumof1andacat]

Stronger pain killers and maybe a referral to the maxiofacial team

[PutYourLipsTogetherAndBlow]

Could he have dislocated his jaw? Would a dentist look for that in an X-ray?

[ThisIsSharonVanEtten]

A mouth guard may not help. I got one recently and it has actually made my jaw pain worse.

[Nogodsnomasters]

I'm clueless tbh, I'm sure when they x-ray at the dentist they just looking inside the teeth for holes or infection and not at the actual jaw itself? I think they were mostly trying to rule out other treatments like antibiotics or root canal etc, though he knows himself that the pain is jumping around between teeth top and bottom so didn't really believe it was a tooth problem so to speak. I feel like it's TMJ from googling but there's not much treatment for that is there?

I got him co-codamol from the chemist this morning and that's taking the edge off more than paracetamol but not complete relief.

He's booked another emergency dentist appointment for 8.15 tomorrow even though they took him to wait much longer than this but he can't carry on this way, he was on the verge of crying earlier and he never ever comes close to crying!

[TossACoinToYourWitcher]

I have TMJ and it's painful yes, but it's never reduced me to tears. Like a PP I'm wondering if he has dislocated his jaw?

Ice packs help with the pain.

[Mbear]

I had this last year and the pain for me was definitely 10/10. It would wake me several times a night and not much would touch it. I was given exercises (not stretches) and I found they helped. I used these....
www.pat.nhs.uk/gps-and-partners/Joint%20Pain%20Leaflet.pdf

Not sure if these are what your DH has been doing? They helped me a lot at night when the pain woke me as they sort of calmed me down and gave me something else other than the pain to concentrate on. The gp prescribed amitryptline as well, which I had reasonable success with.

[Nogodsnomasters]

Would a dislocated jaw cause the teeth themselves to hurt as well though? Could well do, I've no idea about these things.

[MsPepperPotts]

@Nogodsnomasters

I have TMJ and my jaw has dislocated over 50 times in the last 15years and it is extremely painful, I cannot shut my jaw once it happens(usually if I have not stifled the jaw without stifling or even sneezed.
It's extremely difficult to swallow and I dribble and the dislocation is very noticeable.
He would definitely know if he has dislocated it because the jaw will not shut and you can see in a mirror your jaw has moved to one side.

The pain in the teeth will be referral pain probably from the mandibular nerve branches that have been irritated by the swelling of ligaments and muscles.
If he has overstretched the ligaments around the jaw or the muscles have tightened(the jaw may have moved slightly out of alignment by only a millimetre or 2) because of the over exercising then he could try this....

Take 2 Ibuprofen with warm water(the warm water warms the inside of the mouth muscles)

Get a hot water bottle(not too hot) and warm the affected side of the face and try and go back to sleep on the same side of the pain.

Whilst he's asleep the muscle will relax with the warmth and the Ibuprofen reduces the inflammation and the jaw should slide back into place
He will need to take the Ibuprofen for 3 times a day for a week and try and keep the side of his face warm with a scarf if he has to work
Otherwise use the hot water bottle where possible.

He will feel like he has been kicked in the jaw but that feeling should start to ease off after a few days.

I have used this method over 50 times and my jaw clicks back into place every time while I am asleep even though it's totally dislocated.

He needs to drink soup and eat very soft foods

I never open my mouth wide (e.g. trying to eat a thick burger on a bun)
I always used a long handled teaspoon and eat soft foods
No steak or any other tough cuts of meat.

Hope this helps

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

I’m a tooth clencher, and the pain can be terrible - despite my teeth/gums all being healthy. I had to try a couple of different types of mouthguard to get one that suited me, but it has made SO much difference. I started with a soft, upper guard, but now have a rigid lower one, and my jaw is still now in the right place. I’m in Scotland and my dentist was able to request approval from the health board to have the guards provided on the NHS, which greatly reduced the cost.

Per a pp’scomment, I was referred to maxillo-facial at the hospital, and they were extremely helpful and supportive.

[Nogodsnomasters]

Going by previous comments I'd say it's not dislocated as he can close his jaw but he says it's clicking when he talks. He has been keeping his mouth shut as much as possible and only eating soft foods for the last 6 days now. The pain is waking him several times a night and he isn't able to go back to sleep until fresh painkillers take the edge off, he's exhausted and fed up. He's off to his 2nd emergency dentist appointment this morning so let's hope they can do something.

[Nogodsnomasters]

Well the dentist took one look and said ok the roof of your mouth is swollen so I'm gonna say it actually is an infection that we've missed, did more x-ray's, located the tooth that had a shadow over it and drilled a hole in it and my DH says he pushed on the roof of his mouth and pus poured out 🥺 it's now been drained and packed with antibacterial stuff and had a temporary filling put it, booked in for a root canal next week when it's settled down, didn't offer antibiotics.

He's totally numb at the minute so relieved by that but since coming out of dentist his cheek has swollen up which it wasn't when he left this morning to go.

[MsPepperPotts]

Ouch!....that' painful.
Hopefully the pain will be a lot less than before when the numbness wears off.

[Nogodsnomasters]

Yeah it sounded sore and gross! He has had massive relief from it, it's still slightly swollen and he has a bit of a dull ache from the needles and the pushing but nowhere near the pain he was in, thank god.