Teeth/jaw ache

[MissSunshine]

I woke up this morning with jaw ache on the left side. The pain went to my ear, I had some paracetamol at 11am thinking it would take the pain away, now at 1pm when i had my lunch it hurt to bite down on my left molar teeth :( and if i clench my jaw it aches, i thought paracetamol was meant to kill the pain? any ideas what could be wrong?
xxx

[Tonijade]

Hi,
I used to be a dental nurse so know a little bit about teeth! Firstly do you grind or clench your teeth in your sleep? If so that can often be the cause of jaw ache especially in the morning. It could also be an abcessed tooth, this would require antibiotics and further treatment from a dentist, get something hard like a fork handle and bite down individually with each tooth, if there is pain coming from a tooth in particular then that is probably the offending tooth. Do you have your wisdom teeth yet? It could be that they are moving in your jaw, getting ready to push through. I doubt it's decay as that usually causes a sharp pain aggravated by hot, cold or sweet things. The fact that the pain shoots up is nothing to worry about, the nerves in your face are all connected and therefore you will often get referred pain in other teeth or in the ears. Dental pain is awful, I have had a lot of probs with my wisdom teeth and am awaiting an appointment to have them removed. Are the gums swollen around any of your teeth?. Whatever is the cause of your pain will be something easily treatable so not to worry, if it doesn't subside then book a dentists appointment. You can always call the local PCT to find an out of hours dentist over the weekend if needs be. Try taking ibroprurofin if you can as it works in a diff way to paracetamol and may help more. Hope this puts your mind at rest a bit. There are plenty of things that it could be, all pretty minor so pease don't worry xxx

[MissSunshine]

Thank you this is very good help and advise!

I have just tried biting on a fork, and there isnt any particular tooth that is causing pain so hopfully its not an absess? the pain is on the bottom i cant see anything out of ordinary when i look in the mirror and the gums not imflammed or anything. All my widsom teeth are through, and i actually have had an infected wisdom tooth in the past, its the same pain thankfully!

when i bite down, like clench my jaw thats when i feel the pain its kind of sharp but not nerve hitting sharp. The pain does radiate through my bottom teeth tho. which makes it horrible to eat :(

I dont think i clench or grind my teeth in my sleep but maybe last night on the off chance i did? its weird how i just woke with it.
My fears are if its tooth decay, absess or something like that but as i said i cant pick one tooth thats causing the pain..its weird!

thanks again, i hope you dont mind me messaging you if i have a question xx

---------- Post added at 17:44 ---------- Previous post was at 17:33 ----------

and I dont know if this relates but my throat feel sore too.

Xx

[nomoreworries25]

I can sympathise I'm suffering the exact same at the mo I'm pretty are I have TMJ so not surprised really I'm fed up of pain though!!

[MissSunshine]

hello nomoreworries
what is TMJ and is it serious?Xx

[nomoreworries25]

No it's when the joint gets soar because of grinding and clicks and stuf I'm hupermobile in all my joints so guess having mobile jaw is no exception xxx

---------- Post added at 20:08 ---------- Previous post was at 20:07 ----------

Ps if you google it will tell you about TMJ it isn't anything scary its just a name for the symptoms xx

[MissSunshine]

Oh I see! I was tempted to google but didnt want to scare myself,
sounds like what i have.. i dont grind but maybe i did in my sleep i remember having a very disturbed night with lots of weird dreams!!
Xx