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<p>Oww…</p>
<p><em>cringe</em></p>
<p>good luck to you. My husband received a diagnosis of TN some years ago, and he did not believe that it was correct (he is a physician, but not this kind). His first visit was to the internist, and the next to the dentist. It turned out that a root canal and new crown solved the problem (except that he has alot of lousy teeth.) Get a few opinions before you do anything since it is not easy to figure out this type of thing.</p>
<p>I think I might be the other way around – everyone too quick to pass it off as tooth stuff. That said, there is certainly some tooth stuff to be taken care of. And I think getting another opinion and a workup from a neurologist, which my internist indicated would probably include an MRI and CAT scan, before starting any meds is a good idea.</p>
<p>I definitely checked every tooth and jaw part in my head before getting to the TN Dx, so they are misleading as the TG nerve irritation can present as tooth pain, even tooth throbbing. My teeth are all still cold sensitive- to the outside temp, not eating cold things, even though I no longer have any other symptoms. I suspect it is a tough Dx for the dentists and doctors- jumping right to that without checking the teeth feels like thinking zebras instead of horses when you hear hoofbeats. But, some hoofbeats are zebras, and yes, some readings mention it being a pain that can cause suicidal ideation, so it’s good to fix it :D</p>
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<p>Great analogy. I once took a course given by three world renowned experts: one was a DDS/non surgical TMJ authority, one an DDS/MD maxillofacial & TMJ surgeon, and the third a DDS/PhD facial pain specialist. Each had written the widely acknowledged definitive textbook in their specialty. They started with a set of symptoms and each guy in turn spoke about what it could be, from the mundane to the exotic. Keep in mind these are the doctors that get the referrals that no one else can help.</p>
<p>That being said, in 25+ years of general dental practice, I have seen less than a dozen cases of TN (and two of those were associated with MS) and thousands of cases of pulpitis (inflammation of the nerve of a tooth). It is true, though, that many TN sufferers have had multiple dental procedures before the correct diagnosis is made and dental treatment can aggravate TN.</p>
<p>My sister in law has been dealing with what had been diagnosed as TN for a year now. Most recently, after several rounds of different medications did nothing for her, she went to Mayo Clinic to see the guy who ‘wrote the book’ and was told she had an unusual variation of recurrent headache that is not TN. There are lots of ‘flavors’ of this, so make sure your neurologist has a lot of experience with this. ULtimately, she is seeing not just a neurologist, but someone who is a headache specialist.</p>
<p>Good luck with this.</p>
<p>My MIL has TN that was not diagnosed by her doctor for several years. The doctor just gave her vicodin for the pain. Weel, she was visiting and taking so much vicodin that we thought she was haveing a stroke. The pain was very intense. Now the problem is she has alzheimers and can’t tell us when she is in pain; she just gets very violent, then forgets about it. She is on a medication that helps aleviate or prevent the pain. Good luck with your situation.</p>