Tooth pain and PMR

"Jaw pain" is a symptom of GCA. It is an especially important symptom if you have PMR because it can progress to GCA and put your vision at risk. I have never been diagnosed with GCA but have had PMR and have taken prednisone for a very long time.

Prednisone can mask many types of pain which may only appear when you taper down to lower doses. I developed tooth pain once that didn't suddenly appear but was an annoyance for many years before it became more serious. It turned out to be a chronic tooth abscess and was described as massive. The endodontist knew exactly what caused it and said it must have started at least 5 years before it became serious.

I'm restarting this coversation to ask a question:

Does anyone with PMR have tooth pain?

Not jaw pain, just tooth pain. I have felt like I've had a toothache for two months but I can't narrow it down to a tooth. Just that it is my upper left side.

It doesn't get better and doesn't get worse. The dentist has examined me and taken x-rays twice. There is no sign of decay, root problems, cracks, bite problems. Nothing.

Any one else experienced this?
I do not have GCA. Just PMR and I am down to alternating 1 mg and 1 1/2 mg of prednisone. I reduce the amount monthly and the pain spikes a bit in the middle of the month but isn't bad. I still exercise daily.

Any suggestions welcomed.

@cyndiefromnc

Here’s a repost of my experience:

Tooth pain is a well documented symptom of GCA. I experienced this 4 months before I developed other symptoms of GCA. It caused part of my molar that had been extensively repaired in the past to break off. A crown was placed successfully but the tooth pain improved only slightly. Neither I, nor the dentist, recognized this as a possible symptom of GCA. I was on a low dose of prednisone at the time, about 3 mg, for PMR, which had been started at 20 mg about 15 months earlier. I developed classical GCA symptoms 4 months later. The tooth pain and GCA symptoms responded completely within about 12 hours to 60 mg of prednisone. I consider myself lucky not to have sustained loss of vision.

The following article is just one of several that can be found about this topic:
https://ddsdentalimplants.com/can-temporal-arteritis-cause-tooth-pain.html

When I was on a higher dose my teeth became ultra sensitive to cold and I had to buy some numbing type of Colgate toothpaste from the dentist. He said this sensitivity was caused by the prednisone. Now I am down to 4 mg and it has gone away, so hang in there and see if it diminishes with time. In the meantime you might see if your dentist has that toothpaste you can purchase to helpo you get through.

@mark2471.......Yikes.....I was counting on not getting GCA...Your experience scares me.

Tooth pain has been a common feature for me and was even worse when I was on methotrexate. Sensodyne type toothpaste helps a lot if consistently used. Doesn't help if you have existing low level cracks in the teeth as any usual sensitivity seems to increase in those teeth. Initially I had some emerging symptoms of GCA but I was never formally diagnosed. In the last3 years it's settled down into the standard painful and dogged PMR. That said all of us with this illness do need to stay alert for any symptoms of GCA that emerge, bad headaches , jaw pain and vision changed as examples.