Jaw pain... TMJ?? Wisdom tooth?? - Dental Health Message Board

canadianehngel · 03-29-2008, 11:56 PM

Hi, I'm new to the boards. I'm Marie, 21, a mommy of a 2-year-old girl, and pregnant with #2 due September 2008.

Anyway, for the past 3 days, I've been getting some really bad pain on the right side of my face. It feels like a headache, ear infection and jaw pain all in 1. My jaw feels tight and I can't open it very wide without it hurting like heck. It's not constant pain, it seems to come and go on its own, I was fine all of today and had the pain several times tonight starting around dinner time, where as yesterday, the pain was more constant from around 3pm until about 11:30pm when I went to bed. Tylenol took the edge off the pain but didn't get rid of it totally. I thought it might be wisdom teeth bothering me, since all 4 are in, so I tried Orajel which didn't do a thing. Tonight I noticed that my bottom right wisdom tooth seems to either have gone back under the gum, or the gum is swollen, which left a small flap of gum over the tooth. It's tender when I press on it, but it doesn't hurt as bad as the rest of my pain. Is it more likely to be wisdom teeth TMJ? Should I see my doctor first, or a dentist? I'm at a loss as to what to do, the pain brings me to tears when it gets really bad. Thankfully it hasn't gotten that bad tonight, but it was last night. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

charlottefr · 03-30-2008, 05:57 AM

hi marie...what you've described is what I felt last December except I also had a sore throat, dry mouth and trouble swallowing. It hurt the most during the night.

I went to my family doctor first because of the jaw pain and the fact that I couldn't open my mouth fully. I thought it might be TMJ. He sent to me to my dentist who said it was my wisdom tooth causing the problems. She then sent me to an oral surgeon who told me that the problem was my wisdom tooth. My tooth was extracted in january and partly because of my 'advanced' age..grr..I've had complications since.

I still have the jaw problem, unfortunately..so the wisdom tooth extraction did not correct that problem. I've just gone to my family doctor again to start determining what is wrong with my jaw. We are starting with a massage treatment. My OS wanted to put me on more meds (muscle relaxants) but I said no. I'm on meds to deal with the wisdom tooth extraction complications so I don't want to add another medication to the list. I'm going to try this other treatment first.

Having my wisdom tooth out did 'fix' the sore throat, dry mouth and earache...so I'm sure it was the wisdom tooth causing those particular problems. But, in my case, it was not my wisdom tooth that was causing the jaw problem.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is whoever you go to, investigate both possibilities as fully as you can..that is, is it your wisdom tooth or TMJ? Visiting both your dentist and family doctor for consultations is probably a good idea. They can then direct you to a specialist if necessary.