- Joined
- Jun 8, 2022
- Messages
- 3
Hoping to maybe get some idea of what is happening and what might bring some relief.
I am 32 year old female and have generally good oral health. A couple months ago I started getting intermittent extreme pressure sensitivity in a tooth, bottom front. I think the number is 26. While some days I have no pain or sensitivity at all, other days it hurts to talk, swallow, or do anything that causes contact with the front of the tooth (but not the back). Occasionally, but infrequently, when it is doing particularly badly, the tooth seems to pulse with pain without any pressure at all. The area around the gum line and on the edge of the tooth closest to the midline of my mouth seem to have the most sensitivity. The tooth is not unusually sensitive to cold or heat - just pressure. None of the surrounding teeth have any issues.
The tooth sticks out a bit from the others despite invisalign treatment I had a couple years ago. I have been really consistent about wearing a retainer at night but the tooth has been moving anyway to overlap and come to the front of the tooth next to it (number 25), and I feel quite a bit of pressure on the tooth when I wear my retainer. However the tooth has no contact with upper teeth when I bite down - I can't even make it touch the top teeth if I try. The tooth is not discolored and looks completely normal. Advil and tylenol do help with the pain but I would not say they make it manageable when it is at its worst.
Went to my general dentist maybe a month and a half ago. She took xrays, observed the tooth, and tested for cold response. She could not find a problem and recommended trying tooth paste for sensitive teeth, which I have been using since her recommendation without noticeable success. A couple weeks ago, over a holiday weekend, the pain was very bad and I went to a different general dentist that was open on the weekend. He conducted a similar exam and also could not find anything wrong with the tooth via xray, cold test, or observation. He recommended I see an endodontist.
I saw the endodontist last week. Like the dentists, he could not find anything wrong with the tooth after conducting xrays (some kind of more sophisticated xray that created a 3d picture of my teeth) and cold tests. He thought perhaps I had bruised the tooth through some trauma (that I don't remember) and maybe my retainer was causing it to be repeatedly aggravated. He recommended I stop wearing my lower retainer for the time being and check with my orthodontist. He recommended against a root canal because he thought there was a good chance that it would not resolve the pain.
Went to my orthodontist today, and she has no idea. She made a new impression of my lower teeth and is going to make a lower retainer that reflects the shift in this tooth that has occurred since my treatment ended, but she doesn't really seem to think that the retainer is the problem.
Based on some advice I found on the internet regarding bruised teeth, for the last few days I have been really consistently eating only very soft food and avoiding speaking as much as possible. I have also stopped wearing the lower retainer at night (I still wear the upper), but despite these efforts I feel like the pain is returning again after having taken a hiatus for the last couple days.
I am at a loss for what to do, so here I am on an internet forum asking for help generally. I feel like I am going from specialist to specialist that just keep telling me that they have no idea and its not something in their area. Is this just a bruised ligament or something where I should just be patient and it will eventually resolve? Does it seem likely that someone has missed a crack or cavity or some reason for this pain? Does the orthodontia have anything to do with this or is a complete red herring? Thanks for any thoughts on this.
I am 32 year old female and have generally good oral health. A couple months ago I started getting intermittent extreme pressure sensitivity in a tooth, bottom front. I think the number is 26. While some days I have no pain or sensitivity at all, other days it hurts to talk, swallow, or do anything that causes contact with the front of the tooth (but not the back). Occasionally, but infrequently, when it is doing particularly badly, the tooth seems to pulse with pain without any pressure at all. The area around the gum line and on the edge of the tooth closest to the midline of my mouth seem to have the most sensitivity. The tooth is not unusually sensitive to cold or heat - just pressure. None of the surrounding teeth have any issues.
The tooth sticks out a bit from the others despite invisalign treatment I had a couple years ago. I have been really consistent about wearing a retainer at night but the tooth has been moving anyway to overlap and come to the front of the tooth next to it (number 25), and I feel quite a bit of pressure on the tooth when I wear my retainer. However the tooth has no contact with upper teeth when I bite down - I can't even make it touch the top teeth if I try. The tooth is not discolored and looks completely normal. Advil and tylenol do help with the pain but I would not say they make it manageable when it is at its worst.
Went to my general dentist maybe a month and a half ago. She took xrays, observed the tooth, and tested for cold response. She could not find a problem and recommended trying tooth paste for sensitive teeth, which I have been using since her recommendation without noticeable success. A couple weeks ago, over a holiday weekend, the pain was very bad and I went to a different general dentist that was open on the weekend. He conducted a similar exam and also could not find anything wrong with the tooth via xray, cold test, or observation. He recommended I see an endodontist.
I saw the endodontist last week. Like the dentists, he could not find anything wrong with the tooth after conducting xrays (some kind of more sophisticated xray that created a 3d picture of my teeth) and cold tests. He thought perhaps I had bruised the tooth through some trauma (that I don't remember) and maybe my retainer was causing it to be repeatedly aggravated. He recommended I stop wearing my lower retainer for the time being and check with my orthodontist. He recommended against a root canal because he thought there was a good chance that it would not resolve the pain.
Went to my orthodontist today, and she has no idea. She made a new impression of my lower teeth and is going to make a lower retainer that reflects the shift in this tooth that has occurred since my treatment ended, but she doesn't really seem to think that the retainer is the problem.
Based on some advice I found on the internet regarding bruised teeth, for the last few days I have been really consistently eating only very soft food and avoiding speaking as much as possible. I have also stopped wearing the lower retainer at night (I still wear the upper), but despite these efforts I feel like the pain is returning again after having taken a hiatus for the last couple days.
I am at a loss for what to do, so here I am on an internet forum asking for help generally. I feel like I am going from specialist to specialist that just keep telling me that they have no idea and its not something in their area. Is this just a bruised ligament or something where I should just be patient and it will eventually resolve? Does it seem likely that someone has missed a crack or cavity or some reason for this pain? Does the orthodontia have anything to do with this or is a complete red herring? Thanks for any thoughts on this.