[lmcat6]

I had an upper molar extracted (it was complicated and did not come out in one piece) on Oct. 2 by a periodontist. He also placed an implant in that spot on the same day. At day 10, I was in pain and saw a different periodontist who said an x-ray of the area showed bone loss. He had me come back every 3-4 days for an x-ray and by the 3 week point, he said the bone was looking better. However, I was still having constant pain and a squeezing feeling and feeling like something was there that wasn't. Finally they removed the implant and did a bone graft in the area.

Things got worse after that for about 1 week, then slowly started to get better, but now at the 6 1/2 week point, I am still having problems. I have a mild ache in the area, some soreness, some burning feelings, and what might be some lack of sensation in the area - still feels like something is there that's not. I can feel pain inside my left cheek all the way up to the area where the implant was placed/removed with the worst pain at the extraction site. The outside of my face still feels sore. The pain gets worse when I lie down, bend over, and move around alot. Basically, I "feel" that side of my face all day.

I've been to a neurologist (per the periodontist's request) and he wasn't very helpful - just said that I had jaw and nerve pain from the dental surgery, but he wrote trigeminal neuralgia on the receipt form. I also saw an oral surgeon who did a full x-ray and said all looks good. He didn't really have an explanation for the pain - and he did not think my pain was severe or sharp enough to be TN.

I have also seen my ENT doctor. He used a scope to look in my nose and said that he didn't see any mucous buildup and did not suspect sinus perforation, but to come back in 4 weeks (that would be this upcoming week) if the pain wasn't gone and he would order an x-ray of the nasal cavity.

I know that my mouth has been through alot these past 7 weeks, and I would expect it to take awhile to heal, but the hardest part is that there isn't clear agreement about what is going on at this point. The neuro sort of said TN and the oral surgeon said no to TN. Yesterday was a very bad day in terms of discomfort. Today is not great, but not quite as bad as yesterday. I have a high tolerance for pain, but one can only take so much.

The neuro gave me a neurontin prescription, but given that he didn't spend alot of time with me and had decided on my diagnosis without much talking, I am leery of such a strong drug. I rarely take medicine and when I do, I have strong reactions and side effects.

Sorry about such a long post. I am quite confused about what is wrong and hence confused about what to do. Any advice and/or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.