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Orofacial pain / toothaches with no dental origin / headaches
I've been dealing with ongoing orofacial pain issues for a few years. After many dental problems when I was younger, I ended up having multiple dental surgeries (root canals, extractions, and a few implants). I have now developed what seems to be a chronic pain syndrome which feels like a dull toothache in my upper left jaw. My other symptoms are intermittent dull headaches, and occasional face/scalp numbness & tingling on left side. I am also grinding my teeth at night and am now wearing a night guard for that. I've seen many docs including dentists, endodontists, periodontists, 2 neurologists and 1 ear-nose-throat doctor... none of them have been able to locate the specific cause but the consensus seems to be that I have some sort of neuralgia/nerve damage from all the dental work. I had a CT scan recently which revealed no major issues. I am also finally getting an MRI (with contrast) next week, hopefully that sheds some light on this. The pain can be debilitating at times and frequently keeps me from enjoying time with family and friends. I'm a 60 year old male who has always been in very good health. My doc has prescribed amitriptyline which I am starting this week to hopefully address the pain. Anyone else experiencing something like this?
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Update: My MRI results were normal, nothing concerning was revealed there (thankfully). The doctors are not sure but my symptoms could be migrane-related or due to low B12. After weekly B12 injections, I am now taking sublingual B12 daily, doc will do another blood test in 1 month to see if B12 has maintained normal level. Headaches have faded significantly. I am keeping an eye on my symptoms and will stay in touch with my doc. She suggested I try an rx of Nortriptyline or Cymbalta to see if that helps. I have not committed to either yet. Currently my primary complaint is an ongoing nagging toothache (6 months now) however dentists say it is not tooth related. I would have it pulled but it is my front tooth so I am very hesitant. Thank you all for your support. Wishing good health to all.
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1 ReactionUpdate: After many doctor visits and tests it turned out that all the issues I was having were due to sinusitis AND low B12. Both issues have now been resolved and my symptoms have faded away. I hope this helps someone out there who may be suffering from similar symptoms. Here’s what I learned: If you have dental pain and the dentist says it is not the tooth, then get your sinuses checked. If you experience new headaches or numbness, have your doctor check your B12 level. Wishing good health to all.
I am seeing an OROFACIAL PAIN SPECIALIST, and am pretty optimistic about a treatment plan he has offered me. Respond to me if you need more details. Regards, Ken
Oh, never mind, I see you are OK now. Great news.
Hey there,
Very interested in your post. I've had this dull ache / soar gum for a couple of years in an area where a lot of dental work was done. Multiple door canals etc. apicoectomy - lots of 3D scans by multiple could not find any issue so I had the tooth removed. Pain came back. I saw an ENY who said my sinuses were blocked and he did a balloon sinuplasty. That didn't seem to help much and pain the same after a while. I was diagnosed, without imaging, with Atypical Trigemenal neuralgia. On Carababazapene - amytrypline etc. with mild relief.
I had an MRI done at Mayo - with contrast - and the nerve looks fine. The MRI did show chronic pansinitus - so seeing a sinus specialist next week. Fingers crossed that's what my issue is and some meds can handle it at last.
Thanks
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2 ReactionsI'd like to know what happened to you and if you are now pain free?
Rick
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1 ReactionHopefully the sinus specialist can resolve your pain. I know how frustrating it can be. My situation has changed a bit, after weeks with no pain I now have a frequent toothache at one tooth that has had multiple root canals. It's looking like the tooth may need to be removed and replaced with an implant. I have been reading about pain syndromes and found a great book called The Way Out which described neuroplastic pain, that really spoke to me. I got the audiobook version for free from the library. I'm told that pain signals from the brain are misfiring, sending signals of pain where there should be none. That makes some sense in my situation however it gets very confusing because I have had some teeth where the dentist found an infection after removing the tooth. That makes it unclear and murky to me as to the cause. Is it my brain sending incorrect signals or is it actual physical infection, or both? So confusing, frustrating, and exhausting. I wish you good health.
@plo99ca -
Older post, but how did your sinusitis resolve?
I was prescribed heavy antibiotics for a few weeks and that seemed to get rid of it.
@plo99ca
So do you believe it was sinus infection or misfiring pain signals causing you pain?