I have a weird sort of situation going on. Recently I had an upper molar removed. This tooth had a root canal, but then ended up with a fracture, so had to be extracted. When the dentist did the procedure, he sectioned it into three pieces. Since then, every afternoon until late in the evening when I finally fall asleep, I have this horrible throbbing pain. Now here is the weird part. The pain starts in my lower jaw and goes to my ear. Why would that happen if the upper molar was removed? Also, no pain reliever thus far has helped. Is there any relief from this? It has been a little over three weeks and I’m getting cranky with my family.
Anne
Dear Anne,
Tooth extractions are one of the most difficult procedures for patients. That is because our teeth were meant to have every chance of staying in our jaws. Because of that, pain after a tooth infection is not uncommon. It is also true that it would start to throb more as your day progressed and your activity level increased. That being said, this should have resolved itself within the first week of your recovery. You are pushing to one month so there is something else wrong.
My suspicion is a latent infection near where your molar was extracted. The pain coming from your lower jaw does not surprise me that much. We often have referred pain in our jaw and teeth. This is a serious situation and needs to be addressed.
I want you to schedule an emergency follow-up visit with your dentist. He or she is likely to prescribe you a strong antibiotic, such as clindamycin. You should see improvement within four days. Even if you do, don’t stop taking the antibiotic. Your dentist should provide enough pills for you to get four days after that as well.
Don’t be timid about calling your dentist back.
This blog is brought to you by Libertyville Dentist Dr. David Potts.