Tooth pain as TMS?

Hi all,

I had two old fillings replaced in November of last year. The dentist told me, since they were replacements, I might be a little extra sensitive/sore for a month or so and that was totally normal. The fillings happened to be the same exact teeth just on opposite sides of the bottom set.

For about a month following, there was pretty intense sensitivity especially when biting down. No big deal though, I was warned about that. It mostly subsided after about 2 months.

5 months later, one of the teeth still has a little bit of bite sensitivity! And even might have a slightly pang of pain randomly here or there. I think it's most likely TMS, because he gave me the suggestion that my teeth would be sensitive for a little while. (unrelated, ALL of my teeth are sensitive to cold, eating ice cream is like... YOWWWZAHH!!) I noticed that the matching tooth on the top, which is a totally healthy tooth, has some bite sensitivity too! And sometimes, random teeth get a little bit of bite sensitivity when biting down on the something crunchy or hard.

Does anyone have any experience in this realm? I'm not against going to see my dentist just to make sure everything looks good, but dang, I have a severe phobia of the dentist. I basically want to cry thinking about having to go. I wonder if the extreme fear I have of the dentist plays into this.

An interesting backstory -- when I was around 10 years old, I struggled with the most intense tooth pain EVER, for several years. Every tooth in my mouth would ache throughout the day. I was so scared, too scared to tell my parents because I feared I'd have to get all my teeth pulled out!! When I finally went to the dentist and got an x-ray, I was completely fine, but they suggested I get a mouth guard for night time because perhaps I was grinding my teeth. And over the years, my tooth pain went away. I haven't worn the night guard in a really long time, but I'm wondering if I should again to see if this helps. But that might be playing into the TMS?

A little confused on what to do.

Thank you so much.
-Savasana

 

Hi savasana,

Tooth pain should be looked at by a dentist to rule out issues! Phobia aside, how painful can it be to have someone look inside your mouth, or xray it?

In my experience, if you're cleared, then it is TMS. I used to have much more cold sensitivity, and I realized that this was a mild form of TMS. Since realizing this, and not fretting, it has gone away. So not fearing, not obsessing about it can really help! And why not have a dentist open this path for you?

Andy B

 

I had TMS show up as tooth pain. There are a few muscles too that have a referral pattern of pain in teeth. Which can also be TMS. If you've ruled out anything the dentist can see being wrong, then it's tms. It was such a bummer for me but once I stopped caring about it, it went away!

 

I had issues of mysterious tooth pain for a year during a stressful time. I had root canals, etc. unnecessarily even though dentists saw nothing interesting. I definitely agree with Lauren. Once I stopped worrying about it, the pain went away. Five years later I’m fine except the pain tries to make an appearance once in a blue moon- not nearly as bad though and goes away once I am not concerned by it.