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Just gonna put this out there, in case someone has had the same symptoms as me or has an idea, because I'm running out of them. Sorry if it's long, just including anything that may or may not be relevant/related.
Since December of last year I've had this feeling of heat around teeth 14 and 15 (my back two molars on the upper left). When I say heat I just mean the whole area around them feels hot. Not to the touch, but just the sensation of heat. It's a bit hard to describe, other than hot, as if there is an infection. Accompanying this feeling of heat is pain in my left cheek. It can be a sharper pain, or a feeling of stiffness across the cheekbone, or just a general ache in the cheekbone. Occasionally my left ear will feel hot. These two teeth have no sensitivity to heat or cold, and they do not hurt when I chew. Nothing apparent on the gums, though the back of them feel a bit swollen to me, if I run my tongue across them and compare them to the gums on the other side. (I'll add that all of my wisdom teeth were removed by the military in 2006). On occasion 14 or 15 will ache for a moment, but it's not prompted by anything I'm doing. If I had to choose, 14 probably aches more often.
I had fillings on those two teeth done in June of 2017. They weren't bothering me, dentist just noticed some decay. When injecting me with local anesthetic he did strike the nerve (sharp pain and I instantly went numb). For a bit afterwards I had the pain in my cheek but if faded by the fall/winter (hard to be certain as I didn't write it down or anything) and the pain did not return until nearly a year after the fillings, in July of 2018. I ended up going to the dentist because the cheek pain came with tooth 12 or 13 aching pretty bad (I've had an abscessed tooth before and it was horrific, so I'm pretty cautious now). An xray turned up nothing and the dentist thought my bite there was a bit high and adjusted it a bit. Shortly after the pain in the tooth and my cheek faded. To my knowledge I don't grind my teeth at night.
Then in December the heat in 14 and 15 happened. It was just heat at first, which intensified, and perhaps after a week or two the cheek pain was there as well. Both have been constant every since.
I've had xrays, I've had exams, I've been to the endodontist. A filling in 14 was replaced in December, then the filling between 14 and 15 after the holidays, and that was just based on my symptoms, not because any decay was noted. No change in my symptoms. Then the endo did all the tests, tapping, biting, hot, cold. Nothing. Xray looked fine. He noted that the fillings were a bit deep, though the burning started before the fillings were replaced so they were much smaller when this all started. He could not recommend anything other than seeing an orofacial pain specialist, which I will see next week. If I want a root canal, I'd just have to pick a tooth and hope for the best (not what you want to hear, given the cost of root canals and crowns).
I saw my primary care doctor, who ordered a CT scan of my sinuses. Nothing on it but a bit of fluid in my right sinus, which would have nothing to do with all my problems on the left. She put me on a two week course of Amoxicillin 875mg twice a day. I'm into the second week of it and it has not helped. She also put me on Gabapentin 900mg daily which did not help either. I saw yet another dentist just for yet another opinion and she could find nothing wrong and suggested burning mouth syndrome, though that does not seem like it fits (it's literally just around those two teeth, not my tongue or anything else).
I feel terrible. I know 'it feels hot' doesn't sound bad, but it feels horrendous. It's all I can think about all day, and it's been months of pain at this point. Not sure where to go from here. I constantly drink water to try and cool it down even though it doesn't help (and have to go to the bathroom a thousand times a day, which makes working difficult). Aleve, Tylenol, Motrin, nothing helps. Does anyone have an idea?? Infection in my gums somewhere they can't find? Hitting the nerve with the injection caused some kind of weird nerve damage? Something wrong with 14 or 15 no dentist can detect?
Anyway, regardless whether I get any responses, thanks for listening. Honestly just typing it all out made me feel better. I guess talking about it helps. I feel so alone. Dental stuff is the worst.
Have you looked into trigeminal neuralgia? Sounds like one of the doctors was thinking of that, as gabapentin is sometimes prescribed for it. Trigeminal neuralgia can affect the maxillary, mandibular, and/or ophthalmic nerves. You can read about it here: https://www.webmd.com/pain-managemen...al-neuralgia#1
Have you looked into trigeminal neuralgia? Sounds like one of the doctors was thinking of that, as gabapentin is sometimes prescribed for it. Trigeminal neuralgia can affect the maxillary, mandibular, and/or ophthalmic nerves. You can read about it here: [URL]https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/trigeminal-neuralgia#1[/URL]
Yes, that was mentioned by my primary care doctor. She did an exam of my face, tried pressing on different spots to prompt a reaction but it didn't turn up anything. The pain in my cheek is only present randomly and it's not shocking or intense. It's like a 3 or 4 on the pain scale, and usually feels stiff as well as aches. The heat in my teeth, while constant, does get better or worse, but also randomly.
My doctor was more inclined towards a dental thing, but prescribed me the Gabapentin in case it's a nerve thing. It hasn't made a noticeable difference. I've tried googling my symptoms, but it always turns up burning mouth syndrome or trigeminal neuralgia, neither of which really matches what I feel.
I was hoping some random person would read my post and be like "yeah I had a hot sensation in my teeth once and it was this!' so I'd know what to ask my dentist/doctor to look for. At this point all I can do is get examined by professions, who just keep shrugging their shoulders.
Yes, that was mentioned by my primary care doctor. She did an exam of my face, tried pressing on different spots to prompt a reaction but it didn't turn up anything. The pain in my cheek is only present randomly and it's not shocking or intense. It's like a 3 or 4 on the pain scale, and usually feels stiff as well as aches. The heat in my teeth, while constant, does get better or worse, but also randomly.
My doctor was more inclined towards a dental thing, but prescribed me the Gabapentin in case it's a nerve thing. It hasn't made a noticeable difference. I've tried googling my symptoms, but it always turns up burning mouth syndrome or trigeminal neuralgia, neither of which really matches what I feel.
I was hoping some random person would read my post and be like "yeah I had a hot sensation in my teeth once and it was this!' so I'd know what to ask my dentist/doctor to look for. At this point all I can do is get examined by professions, who just keep shrugging their shoulders.
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it very much.
I have burning mouth but it affects the tongue more than anything. I developed it after a dental procedure. Any luck finding out what's going on with you?
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