Weird tooth ache, anyone had this?

[MostIneptThatEverStepped]

Yesterday I started getting these nasty flashes of pain in a back molar; like an electric shock or when you're getting a filling and the anaesthetic hasn't worked properly and the still hits a nerve...only worse 😩

Started out of nowhere and got worse...I was lucky enough to be able to see my dentist and she took an X-ray but couldn't see anything (tooth has an old silver filling).

She painted on that stuff for sensitive teeth and says just see how it goes...seemed better this morning but have started getting these tingly lightning stabs again this afternoon...treating with ibuprofen and/or cocodamol.

Anyone had this? What could it be if the X-ray doesn't show anything? Very grateful for any help!

It's the pain that you dread getting when you go to the dentist...but I don't know why it's happening and can't make it stop 😭

Drill* of course

Okay I'm resorting to Dr Google (save me from that please!) and wondering if I might have trigeminal neuralgia.

I've had weird shock type pains below my eye area before and it's always very fleeting but never in my teeth (or jaw).

One last try, o lovely people of Mumsnet 🙏

Could it be your sinuses? I get toothache when I have a cold!

Maybe? I don't have one now but maybe one is on the way. Thanks @LoonyLunaLoo

I have t had this zingy kind of pain before a cold though.

I have suddenly had toothache out of nowhere the last 2 weeks, it is horrid is'nt it.
Managed to get to the dentist fearing the worse, took x rays and could not see any infection... He thinks it is caused by tooth grinding?? Never been mentioned before...could this be it?
Following the dentist visit I began getting a horrible ache in a different tooth, different type of pain and if I accidently clanged my teeth together I was getting a sickening nerve pain...including the throbbing ache.
Returned to the dentist and he insists there is nothing on the x ray for that tooth either. Still believes it is caused by tooth grinding. Pain is gone, but tooth is very sore if I bite down.
See how it goes basically...gave teeth a clean,.. chew gum etc. Wish he had applied something for sensitive teeth. A new dentist, surprised he did not suggest a mouth guard really. Before cleaning I asked for some numbing gel, he said that was pointless...but could give me injections.? I wonder if that is the way with the NHS? My teeth are not the best but he seemed to think they were fine.

Was the eye pain on the same side of your face as the tooth pain, OP?

TN tend to happen on one side of the face (occasionally both) but the pain stops halfway across (vertically) at the nose.

I have had ongoing dental issues, and finally have a wonderful dentist. There is something called "referred pain" and it has something to do with the nerves, where the tooth that may have a problem (cavity or worse) isn't actually the tooth that hurts. It isn't even necessarily in close proximity, ie. top tooth hurts, but a bottom tooth has the issue - it may be necessary to X-ray all your teeth to locate a problem. Good luck.

Yes @ChicCroissant, same side.
I don't have it now, or very often, but it's an awful, sudden, sickening pain.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Now I'm wondering if it's caused by bruxism. Pretty sure I have that and I was very very stressed that day.

If it is nerve pain then over-the-counter painkillers don't work well on it, as you've already noticed. May have more luck with codeine or if the GP will try an anti-convulsant as they tend to work well on nerve pain. Some people have good results with amitriptyline as well.

I hope it stops soon and the pain eases, OP I have TN although have been symptom-free since surgery.

Thanks so much for the advice @ChicCroissant
Do you mind if I ask your age or the age you were when it started? I'm 52 so apparently prime age for it to start. Did you have trouble getting it diagnosed? And did you have particular triggers?

I was 38, heat was my first trigger and I felt it in my cheek in the shower when the water was on my face. Then it started to hurt when I talked. I was lucky that my GP recognised it straight away so I knew what I was dealing with when the really bad shocks started a few weeks later.

Heat was always a trigger, along with eating, talking, brushing my hair and teeth - I had it in all three branches though! Triggers can be different for everyone though, stress can be one of them too.

I'd start by making an appointment with your GP and see what they say as they can look at all the symptoms. Hopefully it's not TN and something that can be sorted. Either way, you could do with something effective for the pain!

Sinus pai i s like the worst toothache ever. It feels like it is 'in' yout teeth

Thank you so much @ChicCroissant, poor you, that sounds absolutely awful. I very much hope it turns out not to be TN too! Since I'm feeling it I'm my tooth I reckon I'll need to go back to the dentist to effectively rule out a dental cause before taking it to a GP. As of today, I notice that ibuprofen does nothing and that only codeine has touched it. The electric shocks lead to a wider, nasty achiness on that side of my head but the codeine seems to have helped a lot. The pain seems to take my appetite away (and not much does that 😂).

I am having some issues following a filling and the dentist thinks at least some of the pain is down to bruixism. Nothing showed on an x ray but the muscles on that side are very tight. I’ve been told to try exercises (and stop gritting my teeth) and see if that helps.

And yes, sinus pain can definitely affect teeth. If it’s worse when you out your head down then sinuses are a likely culprit.

Be very careful about going back to the dentist. Some are better at dealing with TN than others. Mine blamed a tooth and removed it. Then refilled and messed with the tooth next to it when the pain continued.
Only when I walked out of the dentist numb from the anaesthetic but still in agony did I give up on the denitst and went to the doctor instead.

I told the gp what I thought it was and how it felt. He agreed with me.

I saw a neurologist privately, to cut the 6 month wait, and he agreed. I'm well controlled by medication over 5 years down the line. Diagnosed at 40.

If you girnd your teeth then a mouthguard and the dentist could well be the first place to start, but often that kicks off TMJ in the jaw bone, not nerve pain in the teeth.

My tn comes as lighting pain when water touches my tooth or when I breathe cold air in across my teeth.
But eating and drinking would also trigger it.
And it also, especially now I'm on meds, aches deeply (in my jaw, on my tongue, into my ear, in my cheekbone) any time it pleases.

Ibuprofen not touching it is classic for nerve pain and tn. Codeine shouldn't affect it either really.

Thank you so much @DrMadelineMaxwell
That is really helpful. Can I ask if it is progressive? Or does it pretty much stay at the level it is when it starts?

I am very very reluctant to endure any kind of dental work when there is no apparent dental cause. My bruxism has indeed only previously triggered a painful jaw and I usually know when I wake up if that's what it is. It's never caused toothache before.

If it's bruxism and the tooth is fine then maybe the mouth guard is worth a try. That can't hurt to try.

Mine started like tooth ache. It would wake me in the middle of the night. The pain was the level from the beginning, but I would get very few attacks at the start, then more frequently over a week until they were just there whenever and whenever triggered.

In theory, TN is relapsing/remitting so should come and go and people can have periods of remission. Not me though. I have to take a fairly high dose of an anti epileptic medication which gives me a high level of pain relief (not 100% but I can easily ignore the level of breakthrough pain) and get on with my life without too many side effects.

I'd be seeing the gp to ask about bruxism specifically but also ask them about TN. My dentist that removed my tooth unecessarily, no longer works at my dentists. The new one understands TN and says they do have training on it, but not much. Talking on the forum, some people have up to six teeth removed before the cause is found.

Sounds like you need a root canal .

Thanks again @DrMadelineMaxwell, it's so kind of you to take the time to answer.
One more question...was the toothache as I described, like electric shocks?
How awful that people have such trouble getting a diagnosis. I'm sorry you had to go through such a bad time at the dentist.

Yes. the classic description of TN pain is electric shock like.

I just remembered something else...a few weeks ago I had this sudden stabbing pain right above my left eye and it turned into a nasty headache. The stabbing lasted a few minutes and felt like someone attacking my face with a laser. The headache lasted a few hours. Never had it before or since. Now I'm thinking it's related perhaps.

@MostIneptThatEverStepped hi!!! How are you getting on now? What did the dr suggest? X

I get this a lot dentist can never find a cause it happens mostly when I get stressed can last days or weeks then goes away again for months it's so weird.