To ask about TMJD tooth pain

[bumblenbean]

Sorry I know it’s not really an AIBU but posting for traffic as am desperate! Input from any dentists around would be much appreciated or others’ experiences of similar!

Started having dull intermittent toothache on the top right side a week or so ago. Hard to identify which tooth as it’s quite a deep/ generalised ache. The top wisdom tooth on that side has been impacted for years and the tooth in front also has a big root canal in, so thought it might be that.

The pain then started migrating around - so i now have it top left as well, and sometimes on bottom teeth too.🙄 I know pain can be referred but not usually from side to side surely! It seems to be getting more frequent / intense and is now there most of the time, mostly top back right or left .

Still worst on the top right but as I say various other teeth also hurt sometimes- it’s completely random.

It’s a dull ache rather than sharp or shooting. No tooth is painful to the touch or sensitive to hot and cold. No sinus pain or anything and no obvious triggers.

Managed to get a dentist appointment on Thursday and she took X-ray of top right side - said no obvious issues eg abscess or cavity- and said most likely it is jaw pain / TMJD. She advised doing jaw exercises, warm compresses and taking ibuprofen. Am doing all this but no improvement.

I’m just not convinced it’s TMJD. No other symptoms other than tooth pain, aside from a minor click on right side which I’ve had forever. It doesn’t feel like it’s coming from the jaw joint though appreciate it could be. I don’t think I grind my teeth at night but admittedly I’m pretty stressed / anxious so could be clenching etc unconsciously.

Any dentists with thoughts what else this could be or if it is indeed likely to be TMJ related? Anyone had similar / resolved it?

Am feeling pretty miserable and it’s compounded by not knowing what’s causing it or how to improve it. Am having images of having this forever (melodramatic, me?!) and am starting to wonder if I’m going mad 😬

TIA for any help!

You are probably clenching your jaw without realising it. I would get a mouth guard fitted to wear at night. Your dentist can arrange this.

If you poke around under and over your jaw bone all the way up to and under the TMJ itself, are there any sore spots? I have to prod to find it, but when I have diffuse tooth pain there is always a very sore spot up around there, and rubbing it/putting heat on it takes the ache out of the teeth as its referred pain.

I wear a mouth guard at night as I was breaking teeth with clenching, but still do have bad nights. Hot flannel on the face before you go to bed helps, trying to rest the tip of my tongue behind front teeth and tongue sealed to roof of mouth helps the lower jaw relax, and there are some exercises my dentist gave me to work and relax jaw muscles. I do sometimes need a couple of nights of anti inflammatories to settle down a bad patch.

Sinusitis?

@Artichokeleaves

If you poke around under and over your jaw bone all the way up to and under the TMJ itself, are there any sore spots? I have to prod to find it, but when I have diffuse tooth pain there is always a very sore spot up around there, and rubbing it/putting heat on it takes the ache out of the teeth as its referred pain.

I wear a mouth guard at night as I was breaking teeth with clenching, but still do have bad nights. Hot flannel on the face before you go to bed helps, trying to rest the tip of my tongue behind front teeth and tongue sealed to roof of mouth helps the lower jaw relax, and there are some exercises my dentist gave me to work and relax jaw muscles. I do sometimes need a couple of nights of anti inflammatories to settle down a bad patch.

Good advice, I’d agree with all of this. When mine flares up it can last for weeks though, no quick fixes I’m afraid. Are you stressed at the moment?

I used a combination of a hot water bottle, nurofen plus and nasal massage to relieve TMJ pain. You have my utmost sympathies, my dentist once described it as it making you want to rip your teeth out.

Look up trigger point therapy. You I’ll have very tight jaw muscles and knots. Try an massage out the tender spots and make an effort to unclench your jaw.

Thanks all. It’s really useful to hear what’s worked for others. I am finding the massage thing quite useful and am using a hot water bottle as we speak!

I guess I’m just surprised toothache alone can be TMJD. Did you all have other symptoms? As I say it doesn’t really FEEL like it’s coming from my jaw and can’t really feel any pain when I press it as a PP asked. It really feels like tooth pain but then it’s in numerous teeth so can’t be a cavity or anything I guess.

Not sinusitis I don’t think as sinuses feel fine and it doesn’t get worse when bending etc..

I think my main worry is it being some dental issue which will be missed by assuming it’s TMJD but I guess dentist knows more than me

I suffer with this and I had to have naproxen plus co comodol to get the pain under control. I then followed a soft food diet for two weeks. Took about three days for the pain to reduce.

I thought it was ear ache or toothache. It was across my face and the worst pain ever

It takes time to learn to find the trigger points, but you will know all right when you press one. The first time I had this, the GP put his finger right on the spot and I nearly went through the roof.

The soft food is also a good advice, chewing makes it worse.

Yes, it sounds like this to me. I had a bad episode recently. My dentist prescribed muscle relaxants which helped. Soft foods definitely helped. Avoid chewy, crunchy food. A mouth guard at night to stop clenching/grinding. Mine has improved, but I think that one wrong move and it could regress. Sympathy to you. It's a right pain.

I've seen a lot of this as a dental nurse.

It's a rough time and is painful.

You're stressed and anxious so you're probably clenching your jaw shut without even realising.

You need a night guard made covered by band 3 on the NHS if you're an NHS patient and your dentist agrees it's clenching etc.

There is nothing more that anyone can do except the exercises and pain relief.

No pain killers ever touched the pain when it was bad. I once had a dental consultant numb my entire mouth but I still had tooth pain. I was so desperate. I would throw up it was so bad.

Nimesil powders from Amazon work when nothing else does. Doc/ dentist arguing between them if it is menieres disease or tmjd so self medicating

I’ve had a very similar thing recently and I’m fairly sure it was stress related as I was incredibly strung out. I’ve had it before when I’ve been incredibly stressed.

I’m calmer now and touch wood, it’s gone again.

Sounds like an abscess to me. They're not picking it up on the X-rays. Get someone to check your breath.

Dentist here. It does sound like TMJD, if it is moving from one side to the other it’s unlikely to be an abscess.
Stress at this time of year is the usual cause. As it’s the result of inflammation of the joint and facial muscle, anti inflammatories - ibuprofen or naproxen will help reduce the inflammation eventually. But only if you can take them. Muscle relaxant can hel and alcohol is quite good but you would need to be careful mixing it with ibuprofen due to likelihood of irritation of the gut. Perhaps one or the other.
It will go away in a couple of weeks.
Bite guards can help but if this is an isolated episode there’s not much point in spending a lot of money on one.
You are probably activating it by worrying it is something more serious, sometimes knowing it is TMJD reduces the anxiety and therefore it settles down.

Whenever I get toothache which travels it's because I'm very stressed.

Thanks @Angrymum22 very helpful to hear from a dentist. I’m sure you’re right that worrying about what it is will not be helping! It just seems like quite a tricky thing to definitively diagnose but as you say the fact it moves around suggests it can’t be a specific tooth.

I’ll see if I can get a prescription for muscle relaxants - failing that will just have to hit the booze

I have trigeminal neuralgia which for mefeels like a toothache in every tooth in one half on my mouth (right side) and ear ache in that ear. It is a sharp pain when really bad but sometimes i get a dull ache before the worse pain starts

Sorry to jump on this thread but I'm currently suffering with some kind of pain, I have a wisdom tooth growing at an angle on my right side which is extremely sensitive at the moment to cold foods, a few teeth are aching near it, and the top teeth on that side too, I also have a throbbing ear. It started before Christmas with very sore gums and a slight ear ache, I bought some sensitive toothpaste and rubbed it into my gums and bought a super soft tooth brush but I'm suffering now with the teeth at the back of my mouth (right side) and a really sore ear. I have antibiotics at home (live outside the UK) and I'm kind of tempted to try them. I know this is bad due to over use etc but I have no doctor or dentist and the right side of my face is hurting so much. This is the side I'm prone to ear infections and last year I had a terribly huge ulcer on my tongue too. It was the worst pain ever. I also have crohn's. Could this be what's causing it?

Just to add, I can touch all my teeth, some near the back ache a bit, my sinuses on my right side feel heavy, my ear is, throbbing and my face visably looks slightly puffy on that side. Could the sensitive wisdom tooth be a red herring? I know my teeth ache when I'm getting a cokd/sinus issues.

I have no idea, BusterGonad. I hope you feel better soon. I get bad ear ache with TMJ pain. Another major indication is reduced jaw opening. I find it difficult to even eat a banana during a flare, as I can hardly open my mouth.

@bumblenbean, how's your toothache now? I've been clenching and I'm getting this hard to explain sensation somewhere on my lower right teeth for over 1.5 years now. Did you do find relief?

@BobaTea much better! Unfortunately it’s been replaced with another problem 😆 (reflux) and no doubt stress plays a part in both, but it has pretty much gone. I think I’d probably inflamed my jaw with clenching etc and when I became less stressed it must have just healed. It’s horrible though and I’m sure I’ll have another episode at some point!

Hope you find some relief