Mysterious tooth pain - or gum pain?

[LazySuzan]

I have a bridge which is difficult to floss properly, and sometimes I get a little zealous and irritate the gums.

But now, there is this terrible pain there that seems to come and go. Doesn't seem to be related to chewing - I pureed breakfast. It's a bit heat-sensitive.

Dentist said to rinse with warm salt water and use Corsodyl, but it doesn't help.

I also used a paste of arginine-containing toothpaste thickened with a bit of cornflour that my previous dentist advised. That seems to help a bit more.

Dentist may be able to get me in tomorrow as an emergency, but wondering if any MNers have any ideas of what this could be. Hope don't need root canal under the bridge, or worse, lose the bridge and have to get a new one or implants.

Last week-end I cracked a lower tooth and had a temporary crown placed on the lower jaw below the bridge. I wonder if the crown is too high and putting pressure on the bridge.

TIA.

Where's the pain? It could be an infection, irritated nerve, small hole, anything.

Two days ago it was on both upper and lower jaws in the area where the temporary crown was placed.

Now it's more on the upper jaw between the bridge and the tooth behind it.

I'm taking amoxicillin.

If you've localised the pain to one of the teeth holding the bridge on, the symptoms you describe (heat sensitivity & enduring /intractable pain) sound like irreversible pulpitis. Radiographs may help, may identify sub gingival caries and /or apical pathology but very often it's really difficult to see what's going on coronally with a tooth covered by a bridge. Prepare yourself mentally for the bridge having to be removed OP. If you need root canal, it will need to come off anyway and a temporary bridge put on. It's not best practice to carry out root canal through a permanent crown or bridge.
Best wishes

Saw dentist (prosthodontist) today. Tapped various teeth; didn't do cold stimulus. Says not pulpitis.
Said might be because temporary crown on Tooth 19 was too high - would explain pain on upper and lower jaws. Trimmed it a bit.
But tonight pain flaring up on lower jaw around temporary crown and Tooth 18 despite having pureed most of dinner.
Not sure what to do now.

What country are you in OP?
Cold stimulation tests aren't useful for teeth already covered in porcelain /metal (bridge or crown work). Presumably you've had radiographs during this course of treatment ?
When was your Upper bridge fitted?
Why are you taking amoxicillin ? Something dental ? And if so, why ? What's the longer term plan as antibiotics are used for definitive dental treatment in the UK.

In US at the moment.

Yes, had x-rays in connection with broken Tooth 19.

Upper bridge was fitted >30 years ago.

Yes, amoxicillin for possible dental infection.

Today pain gone on lower jaw, but area between bridge and posterior tooth very sore.

Area between bridge and posterior tooth difficult to floss; I sometimes get over-enthusiastic and it gets irritated.

I think prosthodontist said yesterday that there was some inflammation there.

I wonder if this is the result of the bite issue, that has now been corrected, plus the inflammation, and that it will all start to get better.

I don’t know if you are using the standard tooth classification?. FDI classification would have the 18 as the upper right wisdom tooth. 19 supernumerary at a guess?

Yes @RobinHumphries
Not a charting system, I've ever come across.
The Amoxycillin prescribing? It's not a definitive treatment (UK) what is the thinking behind that ? Usually only prescribed here when something definitive is going to happen next-ie an extraction or root canal.

As I said, I'm in the US at the moment.
The crown was placed on the 2rd tooth in front of the wisdom tooth on the lower left. In the UK system I think it would correspond to lower left 6.
The bridge is above it.
The amoxicillin was given apparently because since he couldn't see me over the week-end, dentist wanted to address possible infection (even though he said none was evident at the exam.)

@LazySuzan hope it was resolved