Originally Posted by Bryanna

Hi cats,

So sorry you are having this problem. To answer your question, ear pain can indicate that there is a problem either in the jawbone, a salivary gland or problems in the TMJ area.

First of all, if you had an abcessed tooth (irrelevant of how long), then you should have been put on an antibiotic a few days prior to the extraction of that tooth because the infection from the abcessed tooth travels into the jawbone which means that the antibiotic would have reduced some of the infection/inflammation prior to the extraction making the removal of the tooth less complicated. The antibiotic also would have altered the pH factor of the infection allowing the local anesthetic to be more profound and effective. The antibiotic that the hospital put you on afterwards may or may not have taken care of the infection in the jawbone.

Secondly, anytime there is alot of force put on the jaw to remove a tooth, there is going to be inflammation in the TMJ joint. This can also include spasms in the surrounding ligaments and jaw muscles. All of which cause ear pain until the inflammation and spasms subside...... which could take several weeks to months to completely go away.

It is important to determine what the exact problem is so that it can be treated properly. If it is infection, then antibiotics are needed.... if it is TMJ issues then there are certain things that need to be discussed with your dentist to help decrease the pain and inflammation.

Can you go back to the dentist and get an xray and exam of that area?

Bryanna




So both of these things can be contributing to your ear pain.