Atypical Odontalgia

gettingtheresometime

Or phantom tooth pain.


I know we're not allowed to ask for medical advice but my mum has been suffering for months with pain similar to tooth ache but where she has no teeth.

She's been back numerous times to the dentist & had X-rays which came back clear so there's no obvious cause to the pain.

Been to the doctors who looked at her blankly.

After a quick google we came across this & the symptoms match what mum is experiencing.

So should make an appointment with the doctor or dentist to get a diagnosis?

brook2jack

If the dentist can find no cause for the pain then it would be wise to ask for a referral to the local maxillofacial department who can investigate further and treat , if necessary.

Atypical facial pain or odontologia is a diagnosis of exclusion , in other words if nothing else can be found wrong then this is the diagnosis.

wary

Perhaps a long-shot ... but a few years ago, I was experiencing pain in my molar area for which the dentist could find no cause. He did say that sometimes it can stem from the ears and my GP subsequently diagnosed that my ears were blocked with wax.

So I would expect her GP to have least checked her ears. One telltale symptom of ear blockage was that I couldn't open my mouth as wide.

Toothsmith

What Brook said.

The dentist seems to have done what they can in a practice setting to find a dental cause, and come up blank.

I can't really understand why your Mum hasn't been referred to the local MaxFac/Oral Surgery clinic - but that would be my next step. They have much better scans that they could request, or even pass you on to somewhere like ENT if no direct dental cause can be found.

Sometimes these pains can just happen because a nerve is misfiring - conditions like trigeminal neuralgia. But all possible causes should be investigated, and from the multiple visits to the dentist you describe, it's probably time now to be referred up the chain a bit.

gettingtheresometime

Thank you all.


Mum went managed to get a cancellation with her dentist who agreed that she needs to be referred to a dental hospital. Bad news is that the waiting time is 7 months. Fortunately we may be able to go quicker through a scheme we're members of so fingers crossed!

Toothsmith

Why a dental hospital? The oral surgery dept of any reasonable sized general hospital would be able to investigate. That would be a shorter wait (Usually, anyway). If they were then struggling, then a dental hospital might be the next port of call.

Do you live in a city with a dental hospital, or reasonably near one?

gettingtheresometime

Toothsmith wrote: »

Why a dental hospital? The oral surgery dept of any reasonable sized general hospital would be able to investigate. That would be a shorter wait (Usually, anyway). If they were then struggling, then a dental hospital might be the next port of call.

Do you live in a city with a dental hospital, or reasonably near one?

I'm sure she said dental hospital but it may have been the oral dept of the local hospital ...I'm a little worn down by it all if I'm honest (and I do know she's the one in pain lol).


It looks as if we may be able to get to see her to see someone quicker which is always useful.


Will let you know how things pan out but thanks in the meantime

teddysmum

I have intermittent pain which my dentist says there is no dental reason for.


However my pain is one tooth(or rather gap), paired across top or bottom,paired vertically or all four. I have many herniated discs in all three spine areas ,so as I have varying degrees of pain elsewhere,mine is very likely neuropathic, and caused by one of the cervical spine hernias.

gettingtheresometime

I just thought I'd update this thread.

Mum has got a benenden medical insurance & she went to see a consultant today (she could have got an earlier appt but wanted me to come). He examined mum & thought that the muscles around the jaw were inflamed so recommended, as a first course of treatment, daily doses of ibuprofen.

Not sure how this will pan out but mum was very pleased that at long last somebody could offer her a solution

lessonlearned

I had a similar issue, especially when flying, although I did have the odd episode at ground level.

I was diagnosed with Barodontalgia by the maxillo facial unit. They said that although the flying was a trigger for my pain, there was also a lot of inflammation which was probably causing the pain I felt when at ground level. They prescribed amitryptaline at 10 mg for three months and then to take it two weeks before flying, all the time I was away and a further week after the return journey was complete.

That was around 5 years ago. So far so good. It seems to have done the trick.

Red-Squirrel_2

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

I just thought I'd update this thread.

Mum has got a benenden medical insurance & she went to see a consultant today (she could have got an earlier appt but wanted me to come). He examined mum & thought that the muscles around the jaw were inflamed so recommended, as a first course of treatment, daily doses of ibuprofen.

Not sure how this will pan out but mum was very pleased that at long last somebody could offer her a solution

Did he also give your mum something like omeprazole to protect her stomach from the effects of the ibuprofen if she isn't already on it?