This sentence is very interesting and I mean that in a positive way:
"Long term dental problems like oral infections in root canaled teeth, decayed teeth, periodontal disease, poorly extracted teeth... these are all contributing factors to TN. So the longer the dental problems go on, the more likely he is to end up with some form of neuralgia."

I'm not sure what I personally think of such things, but I surely see it as plausible! And many dentists won't entertain the possibility. There is much confusion out there. I do wish dentists would study TN seriously since so many TN patients seem to arrive at TN after visiting the dentist. The ADA must be a very "interesting" organization and I do NOT mean THIS in a positive way.

I did not have problems with a top tooth, which surely must make things even more complicated. I had problems with a bottom tooth. I had some preventive dental work done. I did not have pain originally. Something went wrong. I ended up in pain after simple dental work. I was given a lot of pain meds and antibiotics. Someone suggested a root canal. This, was a waste of time. The pain worsened. More antibiotics and pain meds. A dentist pulled my tooth and put in a graph. The pain worsened and I got a fever that wouldn't go away until I took the graph out.

In short, every dental professional I saw made my situation worse. Finally, I saw an oral surgeon who was also an MD. If you can find someone like this, go to him or her.

He told me that I needed to stop seeing dentists and start seeing a neurologist at this point.

My life has been turned upside down. I just spent about two weeks in a flare....lots and lots of pain. I'm overjoyed today, as I have a reprieve.

I've had my TN diagnosis for over a year now. I take several meds for it and am learning,what causes flares and am trying to cope. It has hurt me physically and psychologically. However, on the positive side, I appreciate a good day like no one would believe.

It would be ideal if you could find an oral surgeon with a medical degree like I was blessed with. But, also seriously consider seeing a neurologist with at least some background in TN if things don't start improving relatively soon.

As an experiment and using extreme and utmost caution, you can rub a little low level capsaicin cream on the outside of his face where it hurts the most. Dilute it with a little hand cream. Don't use in the mouth...but outside on the skin. If it is too close to the eye...forget it....don't do it. Rub in thoroughly. He shouldn't wear glasses at this time. See if it reduces the pain a little. Nerves usually quiet down a bit when exposed to capsaicin.

Very warm heating pads sometimes helps my TN pain a little, but don't do this with capsaicin on the skin.