Tooth Pain When I Bite... TMS?

I've dealt with TMS for the past two years in my left knee, left leg, left low back, left shoulder, and left neck... Back in April 2016, I had porcelain fillings put into 8 of my molars. 2 weeks after the dental work I started experiencing pain biting down on my bottom left molar (tooth #19).

I was already experiencing TMS issues then but didn't think my tooth pain was related to it. The pain on that particular tooth isn't lingering , It only causes pain when I bite down on something crunchy. I find it odd that tooth was causing pain since it hadn't been worked on. It had a amalgam filling in it from years prior that I had removed immediately and replaced with a porcelain one after the pain started in May.

Afterwards I visited a few dentists since to make sure the tooth wasn't cracked, infected, or fractured. Each x-ray and examination showed nothing wrong with it although it was still causing problems. I even had some of the fillings on the right side of my mouth filed down to balance my bite since my fillings felt higher on the right (which I thought might of created this problem).

Even after balancing my bite and having all four wisdom teeth pulled, neither operation worked to fix the tooth 19 pain when I would bite down. Besides that pain when I bite on that particular molar, I've also experienced mild tooth sensitivity since that time as well.

Recently I discovered Dr. Sarno's literature and DVD lecture .. It has helped me to rid myself of the TMS symptoms along the left side of my body. I think my tooth being on the left side of my body is a culprit of TMS. I'm wondering has anybody else on the forum had similar issues with tooth pain and TMS? And if so were any of you able to rid yourself of it? Any input is appreciated!

 

Google "phantom bite" or read some of my old posts on this. If your X-rays and nerve test come back normal, trust me it is 100% mindbody syndrome. Avoid occlusal adjustments- you don't need them! I suffered for years with this problem after a filling but it's fine now.

 

Thank you so much! I googled and read what you discussed about the "Phantom Bite" on your old post, I'm gonna do my best to shift my focus from my teeth and shift it to my mind.

 

I have a history of TMS pain in various body locations, which I have gotten very good at overcoming through Sarno's help. For more than a decade, I had tooth pain when biting down on something hard (it did not have to be rock candy but just food of moderate firmness). The pain did not end when I stopped biting; it would continue, albeit less intensely, for hours. My dentist wanted to do a root canal, but I was not confident he had pinpointed which tooth was the problem. I asked for a referral to an endodontist, and he found nothing wrong structurally. So I just managed the problem by trying to avoid chewing hard foods on that side of my mouth and by using ice chips to deaden pain when it was present, as it often was. Despite my history of TMS pain elsewhere, it never occurred to me that TMS could be the cause.

Some years later, when I moved to a new city, I saw a new dentist. He told me I had atypical odontalgia caused by a nerve. While still sitting in the dental chair, my thought process went something like this: "Ondongtalgia" means dental pain. "Atypical" means it's not something dentists see very often, that is, it's nonstructural. "Caused by a nerve"--Sarno says nerve fibers are even more sensitive than muscle fibers to oxygen deprivation. SO IT'S TMS.

My pain from biting down on something hard was gone the next day. That was five years ago, and it has never come back.

Sarno stresses the role of repressed anger in causing TMS. But he also notes the separate role of conditioning, especially if you once had painful tissue damage at the site of current TMS pain. (See, for example, Healing Back Pain pp. 212-23.) If your brain has "learned" that lifting more than ten pounds or sitting in a chair without good back support will make your back hurt, your back will hurt if you lift more than ten pounds or sit in a chair without good back support even though the tissue damage that originally caused your back to hurt healed long ago.

I am only guessing, of course, but it seems logical that your extensive dental work caused tissue damage that resulted in pain when biting down on something crunchy. Your brain "learned" that biting on something crunchy is painful. Although your dental work tissue damage healed long ago, guess what happens when you bite down on something crunchy? Your brain acts on what it has (mis)learned.

 

Thx for sharing! I read in chapter 7 page 193 of, "Healing Back Pain The Mind-Body Connection" that the symptoms such as headaches in the back of the head/neck (normally associated with TMJ) were really TMS symptoms in disguise. Since the rest of my symptoms left a few days ago I haven't had any of the headaches in the back of my head (on the left side of my neck where I'd often get them). I've been talking to my mind since this morning after reading Jason32's response. I haven't eaten anything yet today but will let you both know how it goes. I know for certain as you said, the conditioning was responsible for the continued pain. Thx for sharing! Just wanted to make certain of the teeth being apart of TMS since it wasn't directly mentioned in "Healing The Back The Mind Body Connection".. again thx and I'll give an update on everything soon!

 

Yeah, it's a common problem if you have Central Sensitization. It's like tinnitus of the mouth. Your bite is something your brain is supposed to tune out- malocclusions are almost never painful. If they test your bite it'll probably show increased pressure on whatever tooth you have a problem with, but that's a red herring- your brain is so overwired up it'll detect even the slightest change or abnormality in your bite (which is why any dental work will usually set it off).

Other term to google is "occlusal dysesthesia". Just relax and try not to focus on it, and remember it is definitely a brain amplification problem, NOT a dental problem!

 

I noticed today since focusing on the mind the TSM has switched the selected tooth of focus "tooth 19" to my right Central incisor.. it isn't bothering me though at the moment.. just gonna stay focused on the mental.

 

Jason32, what is CS, that's a new term to me?

Thanks,
tt

 

Thx again to everyone who's replied so far, I finally ate something one hour ago and had no issues biting down on either side of my bite. So far shifting focus is helping! I'ma do more research and continue taking my focus off of the physical pain.

 

To sum it up in one sentence- brain's volume control is way too high. These links have a good overview:

http://www.instituteforchronicpain.org/understanding-chronic-pain/what-is-chronic-pain/central-sensitization (Central Sensitization)

https://www.painscience.com/articles/central-sensitization.php (Central Sensitization in Chronic Pain)

Also Youtube Drs. Dan Clauw & Lorimer Moseley, both top notch pain researchers that have some great videos on the subject.

 

Thank you for the links, but my brain's TMS data volume control is already at full capacity, maybe I'll peruse them next year. I'm following Dr. Sarno's RX -- picking out a nice red zin for tonight, as a TMS holiday psychosomatic event preventative.

Cheers & Happy N Y,
tt/lsmft