Why is my tooth and face so sore??

[Toofache]

For the last year or so I’ve had tooth problems. Nobody knows what is going on and I’m at my wits end with this.

It started literally overnight- I woke up screaming and in the worst pain I’ve ever had. I was nearly manic with it and if it continued I probably would have ripped out my own tooth with pliers. It was around my tooth area and cheek and into my ear. It felt like someone had smashed my face with hammer. Luckily it stopped randomly after 10 minutes- it was like someone had switched on and off the pain. I hadn’t had any tooth problems prior to this so I thought I had maybe bumped it during the night. It was fine when I woke up the next day. The gum wasn’t any different and there was no swelling either.

and then it happened the next night too. The exact same. I called the dentist and was seen the next day- they x rayed it and found something very minor that may or may not need a rct but said it was not nearly bad enough to cause the pain I was having. I was put on the waiting list for a RCT and given antibiotics and told to come back again for another x ray in the meantime while waiting. I ended up needing 4 different antibiotic prescriptions from the dentist as none of them were helping. It was also x rayed again and there really wasn’t a significant infection at all. By this point I was in agony- the pain would randomly flare up and it was as if my cheek and ear were excruciating. I could also pinpoint the exact tooth that hurt too as the pain started from there. It was a really intense throbbing and was absolutely horrific. Eventually the RCT came around and we went ahead with it to see if it helped but it didn’t. I was given more antibiotics as I was still having pain after it and I was told there may be a small pocket of infection. But the antibiotics only helped slightly and then it all started up again.

i went to the doctor and was told it doesn’t fit the criteria for TN but we tried the different treatments anyway and I’ve had absolutely no relief. It’s not TN.

the pain isn’t as intense as it was (I’m not hitting my head off the wall with it anymore!) but it’s still coming and going badly and at times I cannot eat on that tooth at all. The dentist is at a loss as the tooth is healthy and there’s no reason it should be hurting this much. I’ve also been to other private dentists for different opinions and they are at a loss too. Unfortunately now I’ve noticed it’s starting in a lower tooth now too and the pain is starting to radiate down to my lower jaw in a similar fashion as the original top tooth

i know posting here is a long shot but does anyone have any knowledge or advice about what could be going on?? It doesn’t really fit the criteria for anything to be honest

thanks in advance x

Sorry no expert advice. I know it's debilitating. Only time I had this was with a deep a cess that was recurring. I felt as though the nerve was affected and still get twinge every so often. Have you had a scan to rule out anything else going on. Hope you get treated.

Can you tell if the pain is definitely in the 1 tooth?

If not, could it be sinus pain? I've had similar experience, being in absolute agony only to be told by a dentist that they could find nothing wrong. Turned out to be sinuses; dentist pointed out that it was unlikely to be toothache unless I could pinpoint the exact tooth (like you the pain seemed to move around the jaw).

OTC medication for sinus relief has helped me ( i know it seems far too simple when you're in that much pain, but it did work.)
Much sympathy though. 💐That kind of pain where you can concentrate on nothing else is awful

Sinuses.

Posted too soon. Referred pain is where the pain comes from elsewhere in the body and problems with sinuses can cause pain in teeth.

I was going to say TG but see you’ve ruled that out - is it still possible though? I think it can be tricky to treat?

Aside from that, I had terrible dental pain for a week recently, it felt incredibly similar to when I’d had pulpitis / an abcess requiring root canals. I went to the dentist who couldn’t see anything but referred me to endodontist. However in the meantime the cold / flu symptoms I’d separately had, passed, and the pain disappeared. I’ve never had that with dental pain previously. So I’m pretty sure it was sinus related and it was eye opening (or closing!) how bad it was. I would wake up with a burning wall of pressure on one side of my jaw.

I feel for you as dental pain is horrific, you can’t get away from it.

I had an 'electric' shock pain coming from around my wisdom tooth. X-ray showed it looked ok, opened out up and it seemed fine but I insisted it be pulled and it fixed the issue. Even dentist has no idea what caused the issue but I was distraught with this pain intermittently and she was shocked this fixed it

Thanks for the help.

RE the location of the pain, its really weird. I can definitely pinpoint exactly which tooth hurts- it hurts more to eat on and when the dentist tapped my teeth individually I nearly hit the roof when he hit my sore molar. But I also get a lot of cheek, ear and jaw pain but it all feels like its coming from that molar if that makes sense x

If you can afford it, ask for a referral to a private endodontist so the tooth can be re-treated if it looks like there is room for improvement on the x-ray. An endodontist would have use of a microscope and so would typically have a better chance of successfully dealing with the problem.

I had pain like this once after having a large filling. It turned out the filling was not adjusted and my bite was not right. It was agony -the tooth, my jaw and right up to my ear ached really badly. The dentist adjusted the filling by shaping it down and the pain disappeared instantly.

Anything that slightly alters the position/level of a tooth- filling, crown, accident, inflammation- can cause this. Is that a possibility? Did they check your bite?

I second sinuses. This happened to me and it was absolutely horrible. I thought I had a serious issue with a tooth, it was my sinuses.

I was going to ask about referred pain too. I get pain in my shoulder linked to tooth pain, weird but thought it worth mentioning as it could be located elsewhere

Do you grind tour teeth at night? I wake up with jaw pain and didn't realise how bad I was grinding them until my DP said he could hear me doing it. I have a mouth guard now that helps loads.

The tooth could be cracked which doesn't always show up on an xray or sometimes isn't visible to the naked eye. This would cause the pain you describe. Unfortunately if it's a deep enough crack the only option is to have the tooth removed.

Which tooth is it- you say molar, is it upper or lower?

A bit random, but is it happening every month or so? I get the most god awful toothache for a couple of days right before my period is due. It’s definitely referred pain and manifesting in my tooth (which has always caused me problems), but I have the same - literally crying from the pain. I went on the pill to stop my periods, and thankfully that also stopped the pain!

I have experienced similar pain, worse than giving birth in my experience.

In my case, it is a combination of a very small Eustachian tube which triggers it, but it is worsened by my jawmuscle. It becomes ultratense and hard. I have learned that by massaging that muscle, the pain in my face, ear and teeth eases quickly.

Massage is quite easy to do and I feel the muscle becoming more relaxed by doing so

I was going to say this. I get pain in the left hand side of my face when my neck and jaw muscles get tight. It can feel like tooth pain and tooth sensitivity on specific teeth. Usually on the first molars on either the bottom or top jaw.

Massage, stretching and wearing my mouthguard usually sorts it.

If it's not that, then agree at getting an endodontist to take a look. They are super expensive but my DH used one for a problem root canal and he was amazing. Very quick and thorough and has saved his tooth. If the root canal might be showing signs of infection still they will be able to tell this better than a normal dentist. As one dentist said to me "they do this day in day out". Other dentists were advising it might have to come out as it was severely cracked.

Sounds a lot like trigeminal neuralgia but I see that has been ruled out.
What about TMJ as that involves the ear & jaw area, although possibly not the localised tooth pain.
Amitriptyline is good for nerve pain. Perhaps ask to try that if the pain is overwhelming & not responding to normal analgesia.

I had a tooth like this and after years I had it removed and it was such a relief.

I've also had muscle spasms at that nerve that mimics TN and there aren't words to describe how bad it was. Grinding and chewing triggered it, a few diazepam thankfully stopped it and the long term solution was to stop clenching, grinding and chewing gum. Botox can help with that.

I get tooth ache with sinusitis. The first time it affected a single tooth I got an emergency dental appointment where they x-rayed it and the sinus nerve was touching the root of that one tooth, it did clear with antibiotics though. The other symptoms also fit with sinuses.

My dentist couldn't find any decay, so while I was waiting for the x-ray, he tapped each tooth in the area. I nearly jumped out of his chair- it was ,a dead tooth where an old root canal has failed. I was offered antibiotics, but also told that the infection was likely to return (it showed up on my x-ray as dark spots). I had it extracted there and then, and when it came out there was a cyst pocket😩 on the end of the root, filled with infection

Stab in the dark here but do you use a headset, eg wfh talking calls whilst on a laptop?
When Covid first hit I was doing thos and within a few months I had what I thought was tooth ache. I did have some minor dental treatment but pain continued. It was difficult to pin point the 'epicentre' but seemed under a tooth. At the same time my colleague was experiencing similar and she had rct however didn't know at first due to remote working/isolation.
By chance I was speaking with my teen grandson about head sets and he told me I had 'Gamers Heads'...apparently lots of gamers get this 'face ache'. Within a week of changing head sets the pain went. Same for colleague. As middle aged women this wasn't something we had heard of. I've got a big head too which didn't help!

Could be a blocked saliva duct. I suffer fairly regularly from this on one side. Pain along my jaw, then up into my ear. First time, I went to the dentist and he had a thorough look and was left scratching his head. He phoned me hours later with his eureka moment.
There's plenty of advice on the net about how to resolve, but what works for me is to scrape under my tongue from the brack to front. I usually get instant relief from that.

Atypical facial pain

Agree with @shakeitoffsis

I second the TMJ suggestion, i have this and it sounds very much like it. I also had a root canal, but the pain continued. Amitriptyline has been a life saver