[VMarieM]

Hello, I am new here. I am a generally healthy 46-year-old female, but recently I have not been so healthy, and I am trying to figure out how everything that has been happening to me is or is not inter-related. Please forgive the long, detailed post, but it is hard to know which details are important and which aren't!

More than a year ago, my dentist told me I had a cracked tooth. This was diagnosed by the fact the floss would not go down between that tooth and the one in front of it plus the dentist poking his tools into the area. I had NO pain from the tooth, but it had a large, old amalgam filling and xrays showed possible decay starting around the area of the suspected crack, so the dentist told me it needed to be crowned. I had never had a crown and didn't like the idea of removing most of the tooth besides not being in a good financial position to pay for a crown, so I put it off. Fast forward to this July at my regular check-up--still no symptoms from the tooth and the floss goes down now, but the dentist says xrays show more decay in there so the crown must be done soon or a root canal would be needed. I had a trip to Ireland planned at the beginning of August, so I scheduled crown prep after my return. I don't know tooth numbers, but the tooth in question is on the bottom right. It is a molar between two other molars.

Meanwhile, I developed a stubborn sty on my right eyelid which would not completely heal despite lots of hot compresses. I went on my trip, but a few days after returning, I woke up with a pain in my hinge area of my right jaw which made it painful to open my mouth wide or chew normally. It was worse the next day and I realized I was running a fever of 100.3. I thought maybe the eyelid infection had spread (no pain from the tooth at this point so I made no connection to that). My GP dismissed the eyelid problem as allergy irritation (on just one eye?!) and diagnosed a sinus infection since the pain had now settled behind my right cheekbone. She gave me a round of Amoxicillin which I took. I have had sinus infections before, but this did not seem like a right diagnosis since I could breath through my nose fine and had no unusual sinus drainage. However, I took the Amox and the pain subsided (though it did not go completely away) and the fever too.

I had postponed my crown prep because of this, and I was concerned that I still felt a little pain in front of my ear after finishing the Amox but figured I'd better get the tooth taken care of before it needed a root canal. As soon as the anesthesia wore off, I had a terrible tooth ache! I did not chew on the temp crown at all, and I waited and hoped the nerve would calm down. After a week, I could no longer stand the pain. I noticed the pain in front of my ear was also worse and began to wonder if there was a connection, plus my temp was creeping up again to 99.5. My dentist said I needed a root canal and referred me to an endodontist who did the procedure the same day. I had never had one before and knew little about them and had no time to research. I asked if I needed an antibiotic afterwards but the endo said no because the root did not appear infected to him (pulpitis, I guess?)

A week after the root canal, most of the tooth pain had resolved but I still had pain in front of my ear and fever of 99.3-99.8 plus less energy than usual. I had done some research by that time and found out there is a nerve center right where my pain was and that tooth pain could refer to that spot. I began to think the pain there had been from my tooth all along, that maybe it HAD been infected even before the crown prep, and the continuing symptoms made me wonder in the endo had missed a canal. But I called them, and they said the symptoms didn't sound related to the root canal. I asked to come in for a check but they couldn't get me in for two weeks.

Meanwhile, I went back to my GP because I also still had this sty on my eye. She said she would refer me to an opthamologist and arrange a CT scan of the area where the pain was. Her office was supposed to get back to me within a few days. They never got back to me at all, and by this time I was pretty disgusted with them (especially after the nurse told me she had no record of my being prescribed Amox in August!). So, I made my own appointment with an opthamologist and went in for my endodontist check. The endo tapped the tooth, felt the gum, applied cold, but could not get any abnormal reaction so he concluded the tooth was fine. So, I had the permanent crown installed and waited to see the opthamologist who couldn't get me in until early Nov.

During October the pain in front of my ear subsided and my temp lowered to 99-99.5 or so. I felt a bit more energetic and thought maybe whatever the issue was was resolving on it's own. However, by the end of October things were getting worse again. The pain returned, and the day I saw the opthamologist they recorded my temp as 100.1 after taking it three times. The opth did not think the temp and pain were related to my eye problem, but he did put me on Doxycycline for chronic problems with the oil glands in my eyelids causing infection. After a week on 100mg/day of Doxy, I felt better! The pain went away and my temp was actually normal! Then, I went on a 50mg/day dose for longterm treatment and things gradually started to get worse again.

Now, the pain in front of my ear is back PLUS it sometimes feels like it also hurts very briefly in the root area of the crowned tooth. The pain there is vague, unpredictable, and intermittent. I cannot cause the pain to happen by chewing or temperature application, but I do notice it happens more often when I am lying down. I still think the tooth may be the cause of my continuing issues, but my question is HOW do I get a dentist or endodontist to believe me? Will an xray show any problem that may be there? Do I need a CT scan? Is there any other possible explanation? If it is the tooth, is extraction the only option? If so, how can I find a dental pro to help when they are all so gungho on saving the teeth?