Not sure even who I should go see so I’ll ask the ST crowd…
While sleeping Tuesday night I remember waking up with some jaw pain. Within 5 minutes of eating Wednesday lunch, I had radiating pain from my left jaw joint to my temple, left ear and along my top and bottom teeth from front teeth to molars. Pain was about 7/10 and I had to take some advil and lay down. Woke up 20 minutes later and it was totally gone. Just ate liquid soup for dinner. No pain overnight. This am, had a banana for breakfast, 5 minutes later exact symptons up to about 6/10 pain level in same spots. Now, 20 mins later its all gone.
I’m pretty sure its a nerve issue in the jaw joint not a tooth issue but I dont know who to talk to. Who should I go see…what should I do? Sure I want to get to my race weight but was hoping for an easier method!
I have TMJ, and you want to treat it because the operation SUCKS as the facial nerves are frequently impacted. I control it with a mouth guard at night that prevents wear from grinding and avoiding chewy or hard foods that put a lot of pressure on the jaw. No gum, ever.
I am a DDS. Sounds like it could be several things ranging from neuralgia to temporomandibular joint disorder. You need to start with x-rays of the teeth to rule out an acute dental infection. If ,as you say it feels like joint pain,a scan of the TMjoint is indicated. TMJ pain can be transient as a result of stress to the joint or range to chronic symptoms as a result muscular or occlusal(bite) imbalances.Treatment can be a simple nightguard appliance(that is best prepared and fitted by a dentist) along with a soft diet and periodic warm compresses daily until the pain subsides.Neuralgia can be a pain response that opportunistically be triggered by viral or environmental factors such as UV light or stress. Start with a visit to your dentist- hope this helps.
I got it as well TMJ and what I used to get it calmed down is REM caps from Hammergel.com if you want them I got a code to help. Mine comes from work stress and the cure is better sleep. REM caps are sleep aids otherwise you can take advil for sorness. I have been advised you dont want have TMJ in your medicial files.
See a chiropractor first as it’s the simplest and least invasive treatment compared to anything else. I’ve treated lots of them over the years usually with soft tissue work, TENS and manipulations of the TMJ and upper cervical areas. Usually it’s quite effective but if not, then see a dentist next. The surgeon should only be the last resort.
There are many non - invasive ways to alleviate TMJ pain . First , the source of the pain has to be established. If a tooth is abcessed(infected),this can refer pain directly to the area the first poster described-especially a lower molar periapical(root tip)infection. This is why this possibility needs to be ruled out first since ,if left alone,the infection could become severe.By the way, there have been many cases of patients reporting “TMJ pain” that turns out to be something else.
See a chiropractor first as it’s the simplest and least invasive treatment compared to anything else. I’ve treated lots of them over the years usually with soft tissue work, TENS and manipulations of the TMJ and upper cervical areas. Usually it’s quite effective but if not, then see a dentist next. The surgeon should only be the last resort.
As a dentist, I’m not sure how you could recommend seeing a chiropractor first (besides the fact that you are a chiropractor). If this is an infection or neuraligia, soft tissue work will do nothing to solve the problem. Even if the problem stems from clenching and/or grinding, a manipulation may only relieve the muscle pain. A nightguard can decrease/eliminate the muscle pain and will protect the teeth.
Don’t take this as me flaming you but I recently had a patient who had seen a chiropractor for a situation just like this. All the while, the infected tooth got worse.
dds here
agree with other dentists posts x2
If tmj , occlussal guard therapy is non-invasive and relatively inexpensive as far as dental treatment goes. Try to find a dentist that treats alot of these cases.
Well that just demonstrates how little you know about chiropractic and how we treat TMJ’s. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen that went to the dentist first and spent $$$ on night guards or other procedures that were not effective, although I admit I’m just seeing the dental failures and not the successes. I have a dentist that comes to me for his TMJ problem and another that sent his wife. I have actually worked with dentists on TMJ’s.
As for the chiro that missed the infection, you’d think he normally should have picked that up. That would be one of the first things to rule out.
Not trying to get into a pissing contest here. I have patients who have had success with a chiropractor for TMD. My bone of contention was that they should see a chiropractor first. Very difficult to diagnose a dental infection without an xray. We can all get along
“Very difficult to diagnose a dental infection without an xray”
I won’t disagree, but most infections will have obvious symptoms will they not?
At one time I had a lot of dental referrals for TMJ because I made the extra effort to talk to other local health professionals and did cross referrals with dentists, orthos, family physicians, podiatrists, etc. Now I live in a rural area where our only local dentist is a drill and fill type of guy, plus I’m semi retired and just working out of a home office so I don’t make the effort any more.
I used to have an x-ray machine (now send to a hospital). I remember once only (in 28 yrs) on a lateral cervical seeing something unusual in the teeth/gums and calling the local dentist for an opinion and we both agreed to send to a radiologist.
I am not going to get into the debate of dentist vs. chiropractor.
However, I did want to alert you to the fact that your medical/dental insurance may not cover TMJ treatments.
I used to be in finance for a large company and was on the benefits appeal committee and had to turn down many people who submitted claims for TMJ treatment.
Check your HR department and/or benefit plan to see if treatments for TMJ is covered.
Don’t ask me why TMJ is not covered, I have no idea.
All I know is that it was in our plan and we routinely denied submissions.
Thanks for all of the input. At this point, I dont care what it costs!
I am going to see my dentist tomorrow to rule out tooth infection/ jaw alignment etc. and then follow things up with a visit to my doc to confirm its not an ear infection. I’ll go to chiro if both those come back negative. Today, I only got hammered twice with pain. Once at 4pm after eating a banana…pain on the left hand side top and bottom teeth and radiating to my temple and ear went to about 6/10. Then it did the same thing later tonight on a walk with the kids. The pain always subsides to zero after about 15 minutes. I’m not a person predisposed to illness or phantom pain like this. Just scratching my head right now??
Oh man I feel for you ! About a year ago I had similar pain , I went to Dentists doctors osteopaths chiropracters , you name they tried everything with no luck ,I was being treated for TMJ but it didnt improve . X rays showed nothing , no cavities etc etc , I was living on drugs for a week ! When the pain wouldn’t go away another doc sent me to a Oral Surgeon , who took fresh xrays and identiifed a massive abcess below a couple of teeth , was admitted next day to hospital 2 teeth extracted and infection removed and treated . That was very painful !
The other dentists have given you great advice and your on the right track. If your dentist cannot find any problems with the teeth consider seeing an endodontist as well…they deal with mystery pains often. If you are getting a splint consider a NTI splint (nociception-trigeminal-inhibitor) as they greatly reduce stress on the TMJ (google it). Chiro, massage or physio are also very effective with acute TMJ problems.
