[legzzalot]

I layed dwn to go to bed and all of a sudden....one side of my mouth begins to throb. it's like a toothache except it is both on the top and bottom and only on the left side. Extreme kind of pain...

I assume this is another lovely MS related thing. What is it??

[legzzalot]

I should also mention, it hurts more whenever I lay down. When I get up and sit the chair the throbbing stops.

[Dejibo]

it could be Tri-geminal-neuralgia. it is the 7th (maybe 8th) nerve bundle that drapes across the side of the face, and its common in MS folks to have it flair up.

I find sometimes my teeth really hurt. not the teeth themselves, and its really hard to describe, its more like the jaw bone, but not the jaw bone. I often find my sx worse at night, or when I lay down. I dont know if its because its quiet and I have nothing else to think about or if the position of my spine triggers stuff.

let us know what happens. if its really bad, go to the walk in clinich Tri gem can be excruiating and you will need meds. oh joy! more meds.

[legzzalot]

Joy. Well I have a pain management doc appt on monday. So it kept me up most of the night. Yes, it's not the teeth but under the teeth but not the jaw. It felt like I had developed about 6 cavities all at once. Of course it is not helping that it is raining and all of my joints hurt.

I swear if this is life at 30 I am so not looking forward to 60.

[Lynn]

I am so sorry that you are going through this. I had a similar experience last year, and I was sure it was Trigeminal Neuralgia.

To be on the safe side, I went to the dentist to rule anything dental out, and lo and behold, it ended up that I had to have root canal on one of my canine teeth.

My dentist explained to me that the nerves in the mouth do not give an accurate reading on where exactly something is wrong, although I couldn't pinpoint the pain as the tooth that was damaged and it felt like it was all across my upper and lower jaw. He was able to turn my pain off in a matter of minutes.

A few months have passed, and expensive root canal treatment has been undertaken. All is well now - no more excruciating jaw, and cheekbone pain for me.

Something to think about anyway - it may well be MS, but not always.

I hope you are feeling better soon.
Lyn

[Dejibo]

I too needed a root canal after I found my teeth were aching. I was examined by the MD who said it could be mild TN, but suggested the dentist first.

I know she has a lot on her plate right now, and a dentist trip isnt helpful, but if it doesnt calm down, you may need to go.

[Erin524]

I went to my dentist the other day for my regular cleaning and check up. (missed it in January because of a cold and the MS screwing around with me)

I told her my jaw and teeth hurt sometimes too. She looked and said she didnt see anything going on that would cause that on the side I was complaining about. (right side of my jaw)

She did tell me that my last 3 amalgam fillings that I havent had done yet probably needed to be done soon. Two are high mercury and she says one of them is leaking mercury. (how she can tell that, I dont know) She's afraid that I might have some infection under the filling that's not showing up on the x-rays. She thinks my latest MS flare could improve if she works on my teeth.

I need to talk to my neuro about this. If there's infection under the filling, then I want antibiotics before and after the tooth gets worked on.

I want to get those amalgams replaced with composite fillings, but I've been so traumatized at having work done on the other 12 teeth that were full of amalgam that I just didnt want anyone digging around in my mouth for awhile. Now I have to work up the courage and energy to go get these last 3 done.

I'm just afraid that one of them is going to end up being a root canal. (had that happen about a year ago and that really sucked!)

My dentist did tell me that the reason she thought my jaw was hurting is because of neck pain and back pain that I have (which my neuro said is probably spasticity and partly because my muscles are still recovering from being out of commission during that last flare, oh and I did actually hurt my back this winter slipping on some ice.)

The dentist thinks that when my neck and back are hurting that I'm tensing my back, and possibly clenching my jaw, which is what's making my teeth hurt.

She noticed I have some spasticity in my jaw, (oh yay ) and wants me to get my teeth worked on before the spasticity gets any worse.

[karilann]

I've read many times that it can be perplexing trying to determine if we are having dental issues or MS issues. I've been told a lot of root canals have been performed and the issue is MS. I've been warned to be careful of expensive dental treatments because it could be MS.

Soooooo......how do you know?
I had right sided pain in my teeth. Dentist sees nothing wrong in the xrays (taken 3 times). Then it goes away......hmmmmmm.
I have a very old crown back there.....PERHAPS I would see some relief with replacing it....
Dentist says my molar roots are really close to my sinuses.......
I have a polyp the size of a quarter in that sinus..........sinus can cause tooth pain.
I also get an "ache" in my jaw (I always thought it was a strange kind of spasticity in the muscle there) Went to eye doctors for years thinking I was straining my face or something because I was not seeing well (barely nearsighted but refused to wear glasses half the time).

My approach to the subject is this:
Do like doctors do.....rule out everything else. If there is a chance it can be dental...then get the appropriate dental work done. If it still persists, then its MS. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhh!!!
Its just the nature of the beast.

[Erin524]

Last year when I had my root canal (or was it the year before? it was traumatic, I'm trying to block it out) it was a dental problem. She showed me the x-rays. Problem improved after the dental work.

Some of my dental pain I think is from the nature of the composite filling. Some people can have more sensitivity with the composites (rather have sensitivity from a composite filling than mercury poisoning from an amalgam) I know when I eat ice cream, I have to pretty much bite my tongue to keep from screaming when the cold hits my teeth. Then after a few minutes, it calms down and I can go on slurping down the ice cream.

I think half the time, my dental pain is MS related, and the other half it's an actual dental issue. I had really bad teeth up until 2006/2007. (previous dentist was competent, but a jerk, the guy before that was a jerk and a crook and not very competent) I had/still have a phobia of the dentist and I avoided the problems till the MS showed up. Decided to get my teeth worked on in the hopes that it would help. (it did, for awhile)

Now I'm almost convinced that the dental problems (cracked teeth from badly done amalgam fillings) were the reason that my MS got mad and started picking on me a few years ago.

[karilann]

They key is to find a dentist that can help you feel at ease and is really good at "no pain dentistry".
When I was 10 years old, a dentist decided my teeth were too big and pulled 4 molars out. He just got in there....gave some painful shots, and yanked around til my whole head felt like it was going to twist off! (At least thats what the 10 year old me felt like)
I was scared of dentists for years!

Then I found a couple dentists over the years that even when they give shots, I don't feel it. Confidence slowly returned.
No one likes having major work done at the dentist! I hope you can return to dental care with less fear!
Anymore I just tell them up front.....don't you dare hurt me.
I even made sure my daughter got gentle dentistry so she was not ever scared like I was.

I hope you find some relief soon whatever the cause may be.