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pain in roof of mouth

I have pain in the roof of my mouth.  It's a dull pain but very strong.  I've had it for a long time.  I had sinus surgery a year ago to clean out my sinuses and have had so much pain it was hard to know where the pain was coming from.  In the last few weeks and especially this last week the pain in the roof of my mouth has got worse.  I was resting a lot until last week my daughter came to stay and I was a lot more active.  At the end of the week the pain was a lot worse.  It gets worse towards the end of the day and throbs slightly.  My doctor has ordered a cat scan, but I wondered if this is something that an oral surgeon would be able to diagnose.  I'm not sure if a cat scan will show anything on the roof of the mouth.   I would appreciate your advice.
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Avatar universal
Two days after the extraction my gum is very painful.  But I'm glad I had the tooth out.
The dentist did tests and said I had irriversable pulp "something" .  ( I didn't catch what he said.  I didn't care at the time, I'll ask him on my next visit).  The tooth was definitely gone.  The pain on the roof of my mouth was also behind this tooth, so I'm hoping that when it settles down, that that will have been the cause of the problem.
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Avatar universal
Just had my top molar out.  I'm pretty sure this is the cause of the problem, but time will tell.
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COMMUNITY LEADER
Seeing an endodontist to rule out pulpal pathology is advised.If there is no organic cause of your dental pain, clinical differential diagnosis includes, but not limited to, neurovascular orofacial pain, migrainous toothache, atypical odontalgia. If the pain source is one of the above entities, root canal treatment and extraction is of no avail to relieve your pain. Seeing an orofacial pain specialist is advised.
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Avatar universal
ps I've had pain in the roof of my mouth for a while and I know that a toothache can cause pain in the roof of the mouth.  The pain in the tooth only developed a week ago.  I feels like any other toothache I've ever had, especially the ones I've needed before having a root canal.  Very strong
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Avatar universal
Hello Scottma.  I would appreciate your comments after reading some of the posts here.
A week ago I developed a pain in my upper top right molar.  A very strong pain.  The tooth throbs when I poke it.  I went to the dentist last week and he took x rays.  At first he said there was an infection on the root.  Then he tried to freeze it and it wouldn't freeze.  After that he said it wasn't my tooth, but he didn't know what it was.  He said he was puzzled.  So I called another dentist for a second opinion.  (He pulled one of my teeth last summer).  When I called his office the receptionist said that on my chart from last summer they had said that the tooth that is hurting me now looked as if it would need a root canal soon.  When I got to the office, they started talking about TMJ and my tooth got set aside.  They said it wasn't infected. They never mentioned what they had written on the chart last summer.  One of the nerves in this tooth goes right up near the sinuses.  The fact that this tooth's nerve is near the sinuses makes me nervous, especially after what I've read here.
I'm 65 years old and don't want any more root canals.  I know they can get infected and I could have one done and it get infected in a few years:  and then what?  I'm perfectly happy to have dentures eventually.  I don't want to have teeth problems when I'm 80.  I'd rather have them all out now while I can stand the pain.  My father lived with dentures for 50 years and it didn't seem to bother him.  And I would imagine dentures have improved a lot since his day.
On one of the posts you mention atypical odontalgia.  How can you tell if it's a toothache or atypical odontalgia?
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Avatar universal
The pain came back last night, now that I've stopped using the mouthwash.  I fell asleep but it woke me up at 4 o'clock this morning, very strong. Darn.  I suppose it's too much to expect that it would be cured just by taking a mouth wash for a few days, especially when there's nothing curative about the mouthwash.  But one lives in hope.  So it's back to the ENT doctor on the 30th.  Another week and a half to wait.  Back to pain killers as necessary and mindfulness meditation and prayer.  Also I have to get the pharmacist to tell me what she put in the bottle.  There are no ingredients on the label!  Last year another pharmacist gave me the wrong nasal spray after sinus surgery, so I think it would be worth following up.  Just to make sure she gave me what the Doctor ordered.  One day at a time.
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Avatar universal
I've had a bad reaction to the mouthwash.  Feeling of weakness, heat and pressure in chest and neck, pulse up to 100, flushing of cheeks and slight headache.  I'm allergic to something in it but don't know which ingredient.  The reaction lasted hours and I went into emergency, more to feel safe than for any tests, because I know allergic reactions can be serious, and it was going on for so long.  But they gave me an ecg, xrayed my chest, and did blood tests all of which were normal, as I expected.  There was no suggestion as to how I could find out which of the ingredients I'm allergic to.  The pain has gone from the roof of my mouth, which is good.  I hope it stays gone and doesn't come back.  I'll be seeing the ENT doctor in 2 weeks.  I don't think there's any point in calling him before that.  I find that doctors are very sceptical and unconcerned about symptoms and often annoyed or uncaring if you don't respond to treatment.  I've seen more than one post on this website saying that people have been told it's all in their head and offered psychiatric medication.  My husband has type 11 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, all under control with meds.  He has no problem with the meds, no allergic reaction, so the doctor is always pleased to see him. I guess his symptoms can all be proved by a simple test.  But the treats me differently.  No effort to find out what is wrong with me, or refer me to anyone else. I've had to ask for referrals.  My family doctor just offered pain killers.  To me pain is symptom not a disease, and there has to be a reason.  I'm 65 years young, not 85 so I expect to have some good years left and not written off because of my age.  I haven't been sick much in my life, anything in the past seemed a simple matter to treat.  (Hysterectomy, antibiotics for flu (they worked fine).  The last three years have been an eyeopener, and I  want to stay as far away from doctors as possible.  I'm reading all the good books on health and healing that I can lay my hands on, and listening to tapes and CD's.  Dr Bernie Siegel has written an interesting book "Love, medicine and healing" I think it's called, on how you can help yourself.  I've also got "Anatomy of an Illness" on tape out of the library.  I'm in search of health, and trying very hard to have a more positive attitude towards doctors.  Just letting off a little steam.
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Avatar universal
I saw my ENT doctor yesterday, but even before I went I noticed some small bumps on the roof of my mouth.  He said the roof of my mouth was red too, and  he prescribed a mouth wash containing nystatin, benadryl, and hydrocortisone, to take 3 times a day.  I have to see him again in 2 weeks.  The mouthwash is very bitter but I don't mind if it works.  I was up the whole night last night with the pain, didn't sleep a wink.  I took 2 tylenol 3s at midnight, but they had no effect.  I hope the mouthwash is going to work.  It's very disturbing to read in these forums how many health problems people have and how they don't seem to be getting a lot of help from health professionals. God bless us all.
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Avatar universal
Thankyou for the info.  I"m seeing my ENT doctor tomorrow.
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Avatar universal
COMMUNITY LEADER
If there is structural pathology identified, oral surgeon or ENT may help solve your problem. However, on the contrast, if there is no structural or medical abnormality identified, orofacial pain specialist is the one who can probably help you most.
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