How can I tell whether the pain I am in is due to a sore tooth or a sore ear? arrghhh and no, I don't want to have to go to both.

[foxinsocks]

so I'm sitting here at work taking industrial quantities of nurofen and have a pain under my ear and sort of deep inside. My teeth don't hurt BUT I ate something very hard this weekend and I felt it 'hurt' my tooth and that tooth does feel sore (not agony, just aware that it is sore iyswim) if I touch it (and it's a bit wobbly). The pain is also under my jaw on that side.

I know if I call my GP, I won't get an appointment and I won't at the dentist either but I could go to a private one of either close to work if I absolutely had to but really don't want to pay out for both iyswim.

I know no-one can tell (least of all me it seems grrrr) but how likely do you think it is that it's my tooth and not my ear? I am erring on the side of ear at the moment. I've not had toothache that hurts my ear before so not sure if that is possible.

I work for a dentist..would say it sounds pretty much like your tooth....call your dentist, I'm afraid

could be a tooth abscess, i had one that hurt all down one side on my face. a dentist could xray it and tell you if it's not the tooth.

oh god no, don't tell me that. How would I get an abscess there? Could it just appear like that?

if it was an abcess, could it wait till Friday ?

well it might not be! just the dentist could tell you straight away with an xray. if it is they'll give you anti-biotics to take away the infection before they do anything else.

best get it sorted before the weekend if you can, abscesses can be particularly painful if left.

thanks

I don't think you should wait at all, if it's an abscess, as they can be extremely painful!

i'd deffo go with tooth pain, my wisdom tooth bothers me and it hurts my ear, my jaw, my cheekbone and my temple

I had exactly those symptoms just before new year. Turned out to be my sinuses - went to dentist and he took xray and said that my teeth were perfect but the roots were right up near the sinus cavity so if there was a sinus infection it would be pressing on the nerves and making it feel like tooth ache. I couldn't decide which of two teeth it was and both could be seen on xray sticking up right towards the cavity.

Hopefully you'll have similar non-tooth abscess story to come back here with...

thank you all. Have booked an emergency dentist appointment for tomorrow morning at 8am . The pain isn't too bad but it's constant, I can't get rid of it grrr - I get dreadful sinusitis but never get it in this area - I have been fooling myself by saying 'oh yes, it's definitely my sinuses' lol but it probably isn't though could still be my ear .

Gawd, I hope the dentist doesn't make me cry. I always go in all tough and 'oh yes, I'm FINE, it's only a bit sore, no that doesn't hurt, it's ok' and come out looking like I've had all the blood drained out of my body.

aww foxinsocks, dont worry, really, its not that bad, 2 years ago i was the biggest dental phobic going, i couldnt even walk past a dental surgery without having a full blown panic attack, but needs must and i went , had ALOT of work done, and is wear i thought to myself, why the hell did i wait so long and what was i scared of? I still dont relish going the dentist, but im not afraid anymore

I'm pretty sure the dentist won't do anything tomorrow except X-rays and antibiotics to let it settle!

in a way, if it is the tooth, I hope they do sort it out tomorrow!

There's one tooth that has a funny line on it (just had a look on the train on the way home lol) and it is this EXACT tooth that has caused me problems my whole life. I've never had problems with any other tooth but this tooth has had root canals galore so if it's this one, I'm going to tell them to take it out. They can just do that can't they? I want rid of it now!

(actually, I'm hoping it is a tooth problem because I'll be annoyed if I've suffered all this pain and it's an ear thing because I'll just have to ride that out I suppose grrr!).

I'll let you know what they say tomorrow. Thank you again for all your help everyone!