Molars Hurting, but dentist can't find anything wrong??!
Question: The left side of my mouth, in the back have really been bothering me. Mainly in the late evening and morning. I went to the Dentist and he took X-Rays and did an exam and couldn't find anything wrong. That was a week ago, and I'm still in pain. The pain goes away easily with some advil or excedrin, but once the pain medication wears off it is very painful. I thought it was the upper molars, but now it hurts so bad I can't tell if its the top or bottom. Any suggestions?
Answers: The left side of my mouth, in the back have really been bothering me. Mainly in the late evening and morning. I went to the Dentist and he took X-Rays and did an exam and couldn't find anything wrong. That was a week ago, and I'm still in pain. The pain goes away easily with some advil or excedrin, but once the pain medication wears off it is very painful. I thought it was the upper molars, but now it hurts so bad I can't tell if its the top or bottom. Any suggestions?
Here is a list of things your dentist should have done:
- tapped your teeth and cusps to see if there was a sensitive spot
- blown air on the teeth to cool them to see if there was any cold sensitivity
- gently heated an instrument to see if any tooth reacted to heat
- asked you if you have hot or cold sensitivity
- she should have had you bite down on a cotton roll, or similar, on various teeth to see if any tooth reacted
- asked you if it hurts to eat
- asked if the pain is ever short in duration and sharp, or if it is ongoing and dull (but intolerable none the less)
- taken x-rays (she did)
- determined if you clench or grind your teeth
- asked if your jaws (TMJ) ever hurts
The mouth is sooooo complicated, yet so easy when the right questions are asked and the right tests are done.
It IS possible that you are getting an abscessed tooth. When an abscess is just beginning to form, the symptoms are there, but the cyst at the root tip might not be fully formed. This makes the x-ray incapable of picking up the problem. One of the other tests noted above would pick it up.
You might have acute TMJ dysfunction, possibly from grinding or clenching your teeth.
Bring a copy of this e-mail to your dentist and have her look again. At the very least, your dentist SHOULD NOT just drop the ball. She SHOULD HAVE referred you to an endodontist for further evaluation if there was even a remote chance that you were forming an abscess.
had the same problem and it turned out to be my wisdom teeth coming in the xrays did'nt show any complications due to the fact that they were inpacted go see a oral surgen
get a new dentist