Swollen SubMandibular Gland

[rfish]

Several months ago I noticed that my Submandibular gland was swollen.  Well at first I believed it to be a lymph node and before that I never even bothered to check out my nodes.  I showed this to the doctor and he checked it out and thought the glands were "slightly" swollen.  A month later I had an ultrasound on the area and the report came back stating that nothing was abnormal about the Submandibular gland this was in march of this year.  I had a second doctor look at it and same response "Not really too bad nothing to worry about"

The only health issue with my mouth was I had infected gums around the time I discovered this.  (I need a root canal and two teeth pulled plus I had massive build up of tartar and my gums were in sad shape according to the dentist)  However the gum issue has been cleaned up.

The swelling is not consistient, some days it is bigger than others but never bigger than my thumb which apparently is a normal size for the gland anyways.  It just feels firmer to me.  It happens on both sides but the right side seems to get affected more when it does happen.  it does not hurt really unless I play with it and sometimes it leads to a slight discomfort in my ears but never pain.

Is this normal to have happen?  It is not swollen all the time and perhaps it is not even swollen just my paranoia.  Also since an ultra sound right on the area revealed nothing and nothing has changed since that ultrasound.  

I was just wondering if I should bring this up again to have it looked at further in depth or just leave it.

I am 33 years old, male have smoked in the past.

[Ricardo444]

I was born with this problem since I was a kid and I suffer from my throat  and it happen once in 3 month soon when I grew up it becomes more and more  and I always thought it's my tonsillitis doctors too and they give me antibiotics, when I reached 27 I decided to take them off so I had surgery, soon later I notice that the pain is still there and it was the submandibular gland and now the pain comes a lots of time and the swollen  too and I have to use more and more pain killer  the problem is  when I go to doctors the glands are not swollen so they say you're fine , and the nightmare about this glands that they are very sensitive to everything easy to get swollen and pain

[16WeeksPregnantAndInPain]

Just wanted to know if everyone is doing alright and a follow up?? I am 16 weeks pregnant and i just had a molar pulled out today iv been having panadein fort for pain and antibiotics for swelling under the tongue and swelling of the lymph nodes in my neck BUT fue to me being pregnant they can only give me a certain strength antibiotics and i dont think its helping because iv been on them a few days already now everytime my tongue touches something with a new flavour it stings so badly i can barely do anything and the lymph node swells up really fast please tell me this isnt a blocked salival duct!!! If it turns out to be ill have to go to a different town for a proper doctor and i dont even know if they will be able to do anything with me being in my second trimester of pregnancy... =(
P.s i also got really sick before my tooth being pulled and i had a very dry mouth i have been trying to drink plenty of water but wven that sometimes sets the pain off ill wait a few days see if the swelling goes down worst part is i dont want to eat becausr ill get the sharp pain under the tongue but i have to eat for my baby i cant win its bull =, (

[Tiffanyrain]

Ive been experciencing swollen salivary glands as well i was told they were infected we've done MRI, cat scan,dye test and today Allergy  testing im now relying on a new more experienced ent to finally get to the bottom of this in the meantime i drink water with a lemon in it,i keep lemon heads and cough drops lemon or regular  (no honey flavored) this is what i use for soothing and to keep my throat comfortable i take half of a benadryl in the am and one at night i brush and gargle after everything i consume other than plain water or lemons in water i drink peppermint tea i sleep with my head elevated and i keep my room cool anyone have any input on what you do for comfort and for the anxieties please share, Tiff

[the_protege]

man i am 15 years old and THAT EXACT THING happened to me, i havent seen anyone yet and no one is taking it serious and it got huge it scares me, i googled swollen tounge and found nothing then googled mouth parts and found out what it was called... googled that and have found nothing but people talking about what it is i responded to you in particular because everyone said its their right side but mines on my left and my jaw always cracks, if you find anything out email,                                 @ jake,***@****
             thanks

[secondopinion508]

I had the same problem with the swelling on my right side of my jaw and after an ultrasound that turned up nothing I was referred toa surgeon. He had me undergo a ct scan and it turned out I had several cysts in my submandibular gland that had to be removed. Don't always accept that everything looks fine answer. Because there is nothing normal about any gland to be swollen.

[JEWHY]

Antibiotics are just for bacterial infections. I have had 3 botched Oral surgeries going on 2 more. I have been on Augmentin for 1 month and now I am worse! I have 2 huge ulcers and mucocysts on my lip, and I have 3 new cavities due to Surgeons negligence. I feel delusional I am so sick! I have all the same symptoms

[FREE30]

I had the same problem for over a year, after all the exams and doctors visits,  I decided to have my submandibular gland removed.  My left gland was always swollen, somedays more than others.  I had it removed, but don't recomended to no one.  Unless you have stones, Ulcers, or cancer.  If the doctors say is"Just swollen".  than leave it alone.  I now have a many others swollen glands.  Remember we have a bout 8 Salivary glands oround. I believe that swollen glands are cause by stress and by a poor diet.  Try not to eat spicy, acidy fruits.

hope this help.

[callafae1]

I've just recently been trough a stressful time that has left my confidence in my health shaken.
Since the end off 2011 I've been feeling like I have something stuck in my throat (although it doesn't really get painful just feels irritated from some sort of pressure) and last week I noticed the submandibular gland on right side was swollen - like you I thought it might be a lymph node but found out today from doctor it was the gland.   Being paranoid at the moment about my health I immediately thought it might be some form of cancer but my doctor says that it doesn't have the the feel of anything like that,  I wanted to get a biopsy done but right now all my other glands and nodes are fine and it has reduced in size since it first came up last week so he said that it's most likely detritus or a small stone.  
    I was also told that once a gland like the submandibular comes up it never goes completely down again.  
    I think that paranoia is completely understandable and especially if you've had this problem for 2 to 3 years,  (I'm waiting to see an ENT about the weird pressure/acid reflux feel in my throat and hope they don't  forever),  it sounds like you've been pretty thoroughly examined but peace of mind is priceless so if you feel that this needs to be examined in more depth then I say you should - I know from what's happened to me recently that all avenues should be looked at and where your health is concerned being safe is better than sorry.

I wish you the best.

[emilymanning13]

my son is three. His submandibular gland has been swollen for two weeks. He has also been in two different antibiotic for this amount of time. His swelling is no better. He had a surgical procedure done yesterday going in to try and "drain some puss" but there was no puss (again he has been on antibiotics for two weeks) so i am sure there was no puss. The doctors don't know what is wrong.

[brown69]

hey!.everyone i have this same problem, but i went to the dollar store in my area and bought some lemon drops made by Ferrara Pan i bit them up a little and sucked  on them and .the problem was gone! hope this helps somebody

[puneetkaur]

Its about 2-3 yrs now  I noticed that my Submandibular gland was swollen.  Well at first I believed it to be a lymph node and before that I never even bothered to check out my nodes.  I showed this to the doctor and he checked it out and thought the glands were "slightly" swollen.2 yrs back firstly i got X-Ray done of the submandibular galands according to doctors there is nothing to be worried for.BUT after a month later I had an ultrasound on the area and the report came back stating that nothing was abnormal about the Submandibular gland. Still i was not satisfied because i am suffering with this problem and earlier the swelling use to occur once in a month or twice and later it started once in aweek and now daily even twice in a day and it's becoming worse day by day. I had a second doctor look at it and same response "Not really too bad nothing to worry about"
I even get the CT-SCan and according to that ita "apsis" and again doctor's say its nothing to worry about.

The swelling is not consistient, some days it is bigger than others but never bigger than my thumb which apparently is a normal size for the gland anyways.  It just feels firmer to me.  It happens on both sides but the right side seems to get affected more when it does happen.  it does not hurt really unless I play with it and sometimes it leads to a slight discomfort in my ears but never pain.

Is this normal to have happen?  It is not swollen all the time and perhaps it is not even swollen just my paranoia.  Also since an ultra sound right on the area revealed nothing and nothing has changed since that ultrasound.  

I was just wondering if I should bring this up again to have it looked at further in depth or just leave it.

I am 32 years old, female and nonsmoker.

[kissmakeuphotmailcom76]

Hey all.
My symptoms go back about a year and a half now. Doctors telling me it was everything but TMJ and submandibular gland swelling.
I was diagnosed with labyrinthitis due to the dizziness that comes with TMJ.  Not labyrinthitis after of course.  I was constantly going to the doctors complaining about the what I thought was a sore throat, ear pain and swollen glands and was given antibiotics but to no avail.  Being born with Microtia didn't help the TMJ which lead to one side of my jaw being longer than the other leading to why my jaw is popping in and out of its socket.  To be honest I could live with the pain in my jaw but this swollen gland is really annoying me, I keep seeing cancer popping up on the screen and the professor i've been referred to see in Dublin is involved in cancer of the jaw and neck, etc so my i'm freaking out. I'm only 26 and my bloods came back perfect. No infection/ viral infection, etc. I'll have to wait a further 6 weeks to see a specialist. My life has completely done a 180.  Nothing is the same.  Stressed and depressed about this. Just want things to be ok.

[waitinglist]

I have a swelling which gets bigger and swells up on one side. On eating or drinking it feels like swallowing broken glass. So far I have seen 2 registrars, a junior doctor at ENT unit at hospital. At no point has the Consultant deemed me worthy of seeing. I had a sialograph however this was not sucessful as they found out I had more saliva glands then normal human anatomy and so the dye just came out of the other openings and not actually going to the gland itself. I had to wait an hour (state of NHS) from the alloted time to be told that they were now going to do a ultrasound scan! I do drink excessively about 140 units a day and was an ex cigar smoker. My mother had the same problem but had private health care and it was sorted out in 2 weeks from finding the lump to removing a stone in the gland.

[sandwichbaggies]

im a 27yr old female, drinker. Ive had submadibular swelling on both sides for the past few weeks, but it swells up mainly on the left side, sometimes causing left eardiscomfort. I noticed it then I had gone to the ER feeling as though I had something stuck in my throat, life food. It caused a lot of pain to swallow as well. The ER DR said i had some gland swelling when she felt me there but i hadnt noticed it before so it wasnt a big deal at the time. Anyway I was diagnosed with presumed step, even though they didnt even test me for it, nor did i have any of its symptoms like white patches or fever.they prescribed me antibiotics and the stuck-food feeling eventually wore off. the next few weeks i began to notice the submandibular swelling and ear discomfort, sometimes headaches. I made an appointment with an ENT but had to cancel cause my copay would be almost 200 bucks. im scared. this thread however does bring a level of relied however.

[FREE30]

HELLO EVERYONE,

My problem started about four months ago when I was under a lot of stress. I was having night mares and having fever like symptoms.  I also was feeling like something was stuck in my throat. All of a sudden my glands around my neck started swelling and where even blocking my wind pipe.  My left side felt more swollen right under my jaw near my ear. I was also having ear pain on the same side.  I started feeling a lump on the left side.  I waited a few weeks because @ the time I didn't have med ins.  I gave two visits to my doc and she thought it was a viral infection.  gave me antibiotics but made me worse. I requested to see a neck specialist and was given a Laryngoscopy test.  Doc said I had GERD!!!  acid reflux.. I was put on Omeprazole for two months and that help for a while but the lump is still in the left side. I have changed the way i used to eat and I have learn how to breath better. I am trying to be stress free but this was still a problem, so I went to get a CAT SCAN the result was normal but the Salivary Gland shows still swollen...I am giving up on this doctor visits.  I have now tried DGL, and drinking a lot of Camomile tea. It helps me relax and keep this gland less swollen.
I hope this has help understand that STRESS could affect every part of your body.

GOD BLESS YOU GUYS> and by the way Praying helps.

[Blossom10]

I have had this problem on the right side for the second time now in 3 months. The first one, gave me antibiotic...took a while but it cleared up. The next time, another doctor in the office saw me. The submandidular gland is swollen. My mouth was very dry, his tongue depressor stuck to the side of my mouth on the inside. When this happens, mouth is too dry, saliva glands not working good right now. For me, this is due to a medication I take called Imipram and another one called hyoscyamine. These are for IBS problems. So, he told me to continue a lot of fluid and suck on lemon drops to make the gland work more. If it doesn't clear up, may do scan as there could be a stone in the gland. I will be watching this discussion,....Thanks.

[shlempae]

Has anyone looked into prolonged mold exposure? Or also thyroid problems?

I am having the same problems. Not a smoker and not really a drinker. But I do have nodules on my thyroid and that seems to be messing up EVERYTHING else in my body. I am currently getting treatment for the thyroid, and also, we have mold in our house. I haven't done any further investigating into that yet, but I'm starting to think since I've been taking quite a few antibiotics lately, maybe the mold is more easily affecting me or something. I get a biopsy soon to test for cancer in the thyroid, and maybe that is causing my problems also, but all the doctors are saying that cancer is unlikely by the way things look on the ultrasound. I am still getting the biopsy, though, because sometimes doctors are surprised by things, and I don't want to "miss" something that would be easier to treat earlier than later.

[trodri]

I've had this problem for about 2 years. :( I am 18 years old and every time I get a sore throat it starts bothering me. The doctor gave me antibiotics but it wont go away.

[Not_Gonna_Worry]

I am a 30 year old male and all of a sudden (out of nowhere) noticed a swollen lump under the left side of my jaw. This lump sent me straight to the doctor who ordered a blood test and ultra-sound. Ultra sound showed that it was a stone, but also revealed a lump in my Thyroid. I went to the specialist for this lump in my Thryoid, which another doctor said is nothing. They clean forgot about my swollen submandibular gland and spent all their time on this lump in my Thyroid which was nothing. The Ultra-Sound Technician at the hospital that was seeing me for a biopsy of the Thryoid glad asked if she could do an unoffical look at the submandibular gland and told me that there was no stone blocking the submandibular gland and told me not to say anything, but ask the specialist to order another ultra-sound and told me to take it at the hospital.

She begged me to say nothing as she was only to view the Thyroid and that could get her into trouble.

My Submandibular is also swollen, not really sore and sometimes if I play with it and press it, I can get a phlegm that comes out, which the doctor said is the saliva matter that has accumulated due to a stone blocking it...the Technician at the hospital said that it's likely the calcium build up that is forming...lots of confusion, but I'm not in pain...gonna get the specialist to order me an ultra-sound and I'm gonna go to the hospital and have it done. The Technician at the hospital told me that it's best to have your ultra-sound done there, because everything gets reviewed right there by the doctor as well.

Let's not worry too much everybody. I had blood work that came back and it didn't show that I had cancer, so I'll know in time, but for now, I'm good and as healthy and mobile as ever! I also feel great and I'm really good shape ;-) Enjoy life and don't stress too much ;-)  

[rachelle4]

thank goodness i found a website with people who are suffering like i am. Five years ago after a 15 minute root canal by a so called specialist a week later I begam having severe migraines facial pain and the tooth was hurting. For the next  2 years I went to dentist Ent, and other neurologist they said it was atypical trigenral neuralgi. I had 2 pain free years ifyou dont include fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue and I went to have all my teeth pulled they were so bad and the dentist tal ked me into a root canal instead so I could get a partial. I was terrified to go through this again, your right you want to die everyday. The dentist stopped drilling after 10m minutes and aaid he wold have to send me to a specialist because he didnt have a big enough drill. Went home and the pain was horrible. A week afer the specialist finished my tooth it all started again, my husband had lost his job and we were moving back home. Called the specialist he said the tooth was fine the other dentist must have hit a nerve. This was in February my life has been a nightmare. THe pain was so bad the next  4 months I didnt want to wake up that is when i could sleep. The oxycarbazine caused horrible muscle aches. ent to a pain specialists for back njections and told him my muscle in my neck was hurting. He said that was related to the jaw which had been numb for a month I thought because of the meds. A week later the muscle and jaw became inflamed.My doctors PA gave me antibiotics n which caused a severe blistering rash on my back. WENT TO THE ER BUT THEY SAID i WAS FINE, FOUND OUT THEY HAD DONE DRUG ESTING PROBABLY THEY KNEW IT WAS AN ALLERGIC REACTION> WENT BACK TO PAIN SPECILIST FOR BACK PIAN AND SWELLING AND THE NEXT DAY I HAD BILATERAL SWELLING ON MY SHOULDER NEXT TO MY NECK. tHE PA SAID IT WAS FATTY TUMORE WOULDNT BELIEVE THEY JUST BEGAN.  fOUR HOURS LATER i HAD HUGE ABSCESSES IN BOTH SIDES OF NECK. wENT TO HAVE THEM DRAINED THEY WERE SO PAINFUL AND THE SURGEON AGREED UNTIL HE TALKED TO THE PA AND i NEVER HEARD FROM HIM AGAIN.Whoops sorry hit the caps button. Finally went to endo and he treated me again for jaw infection. Finally went to dentist he said the tooth was fractured and abscessed and he pulled it.He never drained or curretaged it and know i have a lump up tp where he pulled it but all of a sudden he didnt want to pull the rest of my teeth and was too busy to se me. Had my dentures made and went to make appointment with specilalist to have all my teeth pulled. Throughout summer my whole neck started swelling, all my gums became inflamed and constantly had a sore throat and earache. All my doctor would do was give ma a mans prostate medication for swelling and said my neck cat scan from er was normal.FInally saw a DO who does neck manipulations and saw how swollen my neck was. He pulled my ct and foulnd I was missing the left half of thyroid, something I guess my doctor just missed the last 4 years. He ran a thyroid and my TSH was hyper but my T4 showed hypo. Ran another scan on my thyroid and showed several small nodules. Specialist gave me Synthroid and said see you in 3 months.My DO couldnt believe he didnt do scan with all my symptoms. Tonight my neck is so swollen havent slept in weeks cause of back and muscular pain and my front tooth just fell out. But the specialist finance manager has put me off 2 and half months saying she needed a preauthorization. This is not their normal procedure . I even signed their paperwork and started to write a 30 percent down check but she came storming out and told them not to schudule me. I guess im not honest enough because i am disabled at the time. have 2 degrees, and my husband unemployed. Cant last much longer, gums hurt, sore throat, swollen stiff neck and swelling under jaw. swollen lymph nodes all over.Oh sorry i cant spell or type either my eyes are all blurry.Found out my teeth loss after switching doctors were years of low calcium and vitamin D tests and pain meds, Tests I was told were normal. Begged for years for thyroid testing and were told those were normal. What has happened to all the good doctors and dentists. I feel im going to die before anyone helps me. Even my spine is swelling now.Well gone on enough feel better. If anyone need s to talk i am here. Was a social worker, a good one for years.and still dont know if I have trigenerimal neuralgia or however it is spelled.DOnt want dentures but it too late. whatevers happening good luck to all of you.

[me171]

The best way to describe to someone what i feel today would be to:

Get 2 big clips from a 3 ring book binder.

1)Put one through your ear canal, pierce it out your gland and clip it there.
2)Put the other through a spot on your gums inbetween your last molar and cheek, pierce it out your jaw and clip it there.
3) Pull, yank, turn, and spin the binder clips for 20 seconds 20 times a day.
4) Get a threading needle instead of string, thread it with dental floss, pierce the needle through the bottom of your gums in between your molar and pre-molar and contantly try to floss upwards through the gums like your trying to saw them apart ALL DAY LONG...if you think that hurts, wait until they are dry and irritated and keep sawing, imagine that everyday for 3 years.

[me171]

Oct/Nov 2007:

First mandibular molar burning/itching/aching/throbbing/pressurized
My gums swelled up with sores and pus in between first molar and pre-molar.  Pebble sized painful swelling in between gums and cheek infront of tooth.  Something was different this time, very different.  It felt like there was a bug with a chisel hammering and trying to chisel it's way out of the tooth.  Entire jaw from bottom of mouth to ear hurt, felt like only the bottom right side of my jaw was being clamped in a vice and pressing my teeth into my gums but not just pressing from the top but pressing from the bottom of the teeth too, like it was smashing my teeth and grinding them into my gums. It felt like there was a worm crawling through the entire right side of my face and tickling my ear with it's tail, it was gross and nauseating. Gland under my right ear also swollen, red, and throbbing. I didn't want to wait to get an appt at my last dentist, then have him send me to the endo and wait for an appt there, this was too severe and I couldn't wait.  I went to a new dentist that was also able to perform root canals.  He was rude and wouldn't answer any of my questions, i asked him if it was the infection from the last time spread into the tooth since it was right next to it and he said " i don't know ".  I asked if that was possible, he said " i don't know". He x-rayed me and said he couldn't do the root canal because my roots were too curved and referred me to the endo.  I told him i was in too much pain to wait and asked if he would try the root canal and then let the endo do it if it didn't work, he refused but said he would try a partial root canal by opening the tooth and injecting poison on the roots to kill them, then sealing with a partial filling to allegedly get rid of the pain until i got to the endo...it didn't work.  Had the root canal a few weeks later, all symptoms disappeared except for i kept getting recurring sores in between the molar and pre-molar on the gums.  The gland under my ear would swell up along with my gums when there was a sore.  Eventually the sores stopped coming but the gums and gland would still swell and throb 2-3 days a week, this has never stopped, and has gotten more frequent and more intense from this point on through present day.

Feb 2008

Extreme throbbing pain in gums.  Still in the same spot, no sores.  Went to a new dentist since the last one did not like answering questions.  No cavities or signs of infection in gums or surrounding teeth.  I gave up, i'm tired of dentists, endodontists, and surgeries, noone could tell me what was wrong with me.  Problem became more intense and frequent causing difficulty to eat,  I could only eat once a day which had to be at night after I took my sleeping pill hoping I would fall asleep before the pain got worse from me eating.

November 2008

Gum pain is now everyday, gland doesn't swell but is always fim/tender.  Eating/brusing my teeth/talking to loud or yelling/shaving/touching the ear or gland area under the ear/if i'm walking and i step too hard on that side/bumps and potholes when driving now cause sharp stabbing pains through teeth and right side of jaw and cheek.  Pain is constant but each time a stabbing pain is triggered the constant pain that was already there becomes more intense for the rest of the day. Hitting too many triggers causes severe throbbing and headaches.   Pain is minimal upon waking up and progressess throughout the day with everything throbbing at night causing extreme difficulty falling asleep. BTW this makes me want to lay on the couch and watch tv and not move until I have to in hopes to get extra time before it goes from irritating to painful.  Between neck & back pain, and this I have been severely depressed for 3 years. Repeated loss of sleep over several days if I have to get up earlier than my body wants to gives me light flu symptoms, aches, pains, a little stuffiness & muscle weakness.  

Mid November

Cracked teeth in top jaw and went to get them repaired, again asked dentist to check bottom teeth and gums and again found nothing.  Woke up one morning pain was throbbing and just as intense as it was before i went to bed, which is odd because it normally resets to a minimal/slightly irritating level in the morning and is not painful for a few hours unless triggered. Next day I woke up with intense pain and throbbing in my entire right side of my face.  Throbbing gums/teeth/throbbing gland under ear/shooting pain down through jaw and up through cheek/throbbing ear ache.  Went to regular DR, had ear infection in right ear.  1 week later, had to go back to DR, had swimmer's ear in left ear (no facial on left side, just ear pain, facial/jaw/teeth pain only occurs on right side).  Dr recommended I see ENT spec if no improvement.

Late Nov/Dec 2008

Made appt with ENT, my insurance doesn't give me a lot to pick from and the soonest appt I could get was Feb 28, 2009.  Regular Dr. didn't want to give any more narcotics and gave me darvocet, they didn't help at all.

Feb 2008

Everyday pain now includes the right ear. Lost weight.  Can only eat a normal sized meal
with pain killers, other than that I get 3 or 4 bites usually of something soft such as pasta every night after i take my sleeping pill hoping to fall asleep before the pain gets worse from eating, sometimes pain is too bad to eat even at night, so i don't eat anything until the next night.  Went to ENT, he said there is presently no infection in either ear, removed small amount of wax from right ear, removed large amount of wax from left ear.  Asked ENT about gland/facial/jaw and tooth pain, he insists as if he was in a hurry that this is swimmer's ear even though i've told him this is an ongoing problem that does not always include ear pain.  I've had plenty of swimmer's ears as a child and last i checked swimmer's ear was not a debilitating disease.  I used my insomnia to research all these symptoms and finally found something that matches them all called atypical trimengial neuralgia (facial nerve damage).  Made appt to discuss with Reg. DR.

[me171]

Ok, here's what I went through.

March 2006:

Burning/itching/irritation in first molar, no pain, days later metal filling near the gumline fell out, but still no pain.  Went to a new dentist this time, he was very good, he took out all the metal fillings in my molars and replaced them with white fillings and said if the metal fillings were touching the tooth nerve it could cause irritation especially from the metal constantly transferring heat and cold.  He even fixed some cosmetic errors caused by my last lazy careless dentist, straightened the crooked pin the last dentist put on my two front teeth and said she couldn't fix it without it being crooked (Obviously she lied cause he fixed it and it's stayed perfectly straight ever since and it's March 2009 now)  Anyway, the irritation was gone for almost a year and sadly I had lost this dentist due to my employer switching dental insurance companies and he didn't accept the new insurance, he was the only dentist i've had in my adult life that had not screwed anything up or lied to me, and the only dentist that made me feel better so I trusted him.  

Jan/Feb 2007:

Burning toothache in second mandibular molar (wisdom teeth or third manib mols were removed w/o complications in 1999) also felt like it was itching like something was crawling around inside the tooth and roots.  I did not have the toothache everyday, it was only once or twice a week so i did not visit the dentist hoping it was just an infection and took regular antibiotics hoping it would go away until about 2 months later it became a problem 24/7.  Went to regular dentist, he took an xray and said there was no infection inside the tooth,  I asked why I was in pain, he said a previous infection may have killed the nerve before the infection cleared and now my body is trying to "clean" out the dead nerve cells because it sees them as dirt that needs carried away and this is what was causing the pain and irritation, it was mostly irritation, but it drove me nuts.  On it's worst days it would be painful and there would be a white swelling on the inside of my cheek near the gumline infront of the tooth that only appeared and swelled on days it was hurting, the swelling didn't hurt, just the tooth, the swelling would be irritated the more i talked or ate by rubbing against my teeth.  He send me to an endodontist for a root canal.  After the root canal the tooth didn't hurt but it felt like there was a zit growing underneath the tooth that didn't have enough room to grow, the zit felt like it was under a lot of pressure (imagine a zit growing near your nose on top of a sinus that feels like it has enough pressure to pop on its own, then hold your finger over it and apply pressure to it all day so that it can't pop, that's what it felt like.  I couldn't concentrate, all day long i just wanted to rip the tooth off, pop whatever it was, and slide the tooth back in, lol too bad that's not possible.)  Went back to regular dentist told him about pain under tooth, he wanted me to go back to the endo.  The endo couldn't get me in for a month, went to a second endo who did an xray and said he couldn't find anything wrong.  2 weeks later I couldn't take it anymore and had the tooth extracted.  1 week later, extraction site full of sores and had two white spaghetti string objects hanging out of top of gums, couldn't eat or breathe through mouth without sharp stabbing pains.  I thought the strings being rubbed or pulled was hurting something under my gums so i had planned to use tweezers and cut them down with scissors to make it harder for things to grab and pull them.  Had to do this myself because i couldnt get a dental appt for a few days and the jerk would not refill the pain meds.  When I grabbed the strings with the tweezers i would get sharp stabbing pains all through my mouth even if i just lightly touched them and didnt' move or pull them.  I thought they might be exposed nerves from the tooth that didnt rip off like they should have when it was pulled out.  I numbed them with oragel (they didn't numb, it was more like a slight decrease in pain) and yanked them out with tweezers, they were longer than i thought they were, running the whole way down my gums and into my cheeks, both of them ripped and slplit my gums open on the front side.  I called the surgeons office that extracted the tooth and told them about it, they still wouldn't give me a sooner appt and told me to go to the ER and have a doctor examine the strings i pulled (i saved them) and the sores in my mouth to see if they looked cancerous.  ER doctor threw away the bag I had the strings in without even looking at them, it was a clear plastic bag so it's not like he had to touch them or anything and told me it was nostramus tissue (a mix of pus and mucous).  I've never heard of pus that attached it's own nerves that could transfer pain into MY nerves but with evolution these days u never know (no pus does not have nerves, that was me being sarcastic about him not looking at them) I know they weren't pus, but they were some type of vessel or fibrous tissue that had nerves running through them.  ER dr said go back to the surgeon and get a biopsy.  When i got to the surgeon, sores still hadn't healed, still lots of pain and a piece of bone was sticking out of the extraction site that was sensitive to cold.  He said no biopsy, no cancer, got rid of the bone and did some sort of gum surgery.  Site finally healed 2 wks- 1 month later.

[me171]

If you are having teeth and gum pains with swollen glands which may or may not include ear pain and TMJ has been ruled out (or you have no jaw clicking, bite problems, or teeth grinding), you've had root canals or extractions (on molars) and they didn't work and your still having teeth/gum pain and swollen glands and even light touch or pressure anywhere from your ears down your cheeck to your jaw and gumline make the pain worse.  DO NOT GET ANYMORE ROOT CANALS OR EXTRACTIONS FOR ANY MOLARS Here is what you should ask to get tested for:
1) wikipedia the gland you have swollen (it is probably the parotid gland)
2) Have the gland tested for gland stones (PRAY THAT YOU HOPE THIS IS THE PROBLEM, IT IS THE ONLY ONE THAT WILL *EVER* GO AWAY)
3) Gland stones can be removed w/o surgury, if small enough your doctor can just push the stone through where it is stuck in the office with a local anesth.  If it's larger you do not have to go through the painful surgery someone listed above, the stones can be broken smaller and dissolved with ultrasound just like kidney stones can.
4) Obviously get checked for tumors or lymph cancers (PRAY THAT YOU HAVE A NON CANCEROUS TUMOR THAT CAN EASILY BE REMOVED CAUSE THERE IS NO GOOD NEWS AFTER THIS)
5) I AM NOT A DOCTOR, THIS IS MY EXPERIENCE AND MAY NOT BE FOR EVERYONE BUT IT IS A RARE CONDITION MOST REGULAR DOCTORS WILL PROBABLY NOT THINK OF ON THEIR OWN BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH IT AND THE SYMPTOMS MASK THEMSELVES AS EAR, NOSE, THROAT, AND MOSTLY DENTAL PROBLEMS WHEN IN FACT THEY ARE NOT SO YOUR DOC MAY KEEP TELLING YOU GO TO THE DENTIST OR GO TO THE ENT, SO THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN TO HIM/HER.  Still have toothaches, swollen gums and glands? Ear pain? or a combination of all of the above or the symptoms playing musical chairs and keep switching on you?  The bad news: this is misdiagnosed as dental problems or infections even though multiple dentists and multiple oral surgeries and antibiotics WILL NOT FIX IT.  IT WILL NOT GO AWAY ON ITS OWN. Wikipedia Trigeminal Neuralgia and/or Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia.  Talk to your doctor about this, he/she may not be familiar with the disease and how to treat it.  You may have severe depression if you've had this condition long, i've had mine 3 years, when untreated i can only eat about 4 bites of food every other day, even soft foods like pudding, mashed potatoes, ice cream scares me because sometimes the sucking on the spoon or food rubbing gums or getting stuck in between teeth can cause a sharp pain and make the constant pain 10x worse.  I'm afraid of shaving my face because if if rub the wrong way or press too hard in the wrong spot the pain will be worse the rest of the day (you do not want to start the day in agonizing pain because any day the pain acts up it will get worse as the day progresses) so I only shave my face when I have to leave the house or have company. You should tell your doctor this is known as the "suicide disease" because that is what happens to some patients who give up searching for a diagnosis or have not been treated for pain and can't take it anymore and just give up.  Women who have gone through labor say they would rather give birth everyday rather than have this.  If you google "The worst pain felt by man" there will be some links for some forum survey "whats your worst pain" bulletin board chat sites then there will be a link to an article about Trigeminal neuralgia.  You should probably print out the wikipedia articles for your doctor and write out a DETAILED description of your pain for the dr to be able to imagine what  you are feeling because if you don't you will end up being undertreated or told take ibuprofen and deal with it.  If the doctor isn't able to imagine what you are feeling and going through every day of your life he/she may just think your making it up to get pain pills( them asking you on a scale of 1-10 where and how bad does not help them imagine the immense pain this condition causes both mentally and physically), most regular doctors aren't familiar with this condition, they can treat it, but a neurologist is the one who would have knowledge of the condition and believe you if your reg doc doesn't.  If you choose to be treated with drugs and not surgically there is no need to go to a neurologist if you regular doctor is willing to prescribe the drugs needed.  Surgical options are available through a neurologist   You will want checked for multiple sclerosis because trigeminal neuralgia can be one of it's symptoms.  If your doctor refuses to treat the problem or leaves you undertreated, go to a specialist called a neurologist.  If you are at the point where you can't take it anymore and the dr or neurologist won't give you the relief you need, TRY THIS FIRST say to one of them, "This is affecting my job, i can't sleep, the sleep deprevation makes me have flu symptoms and i'm missing a lot of work, if i have no work, i have no insurance to come and pay you with and then i'm stuck with this problem forever because it takes 90 days to get insurance when you start a new job and I don't think I can make it that long without missing too much work and getting fired again.  I'm worried i'm going to lose my house and my car and my family, I really need some help with this."  IF THAT DIDN'T WORK "Did you take an oath to put my safety first?  "I'm desperate enough to take relief anwhere I can get it, now don't you think it would be a lot SAFER for you to provide me with the relief I need rather than having me risk buying off the street and risking taking something dangerous because someone told me it was for pain?" "Between the pain, depression, the sleep deprivation making the pain worse on some days, I perform poorly when i am at work, and often it's so bad I have to call off work and i'm worried about getting fired in this bad economy,  I need some type of relief so I can keep my job, I shouldn't have to spend every extra dime I make paying street prices for something you can give me when I can be putting this money towards buying nice things for my family/kids, a new house, a college education, etc etc insert some sappy use for money here."  The main goal is you want them to understand and sypathize with you by using a nice approach, if that doesn't work the second approach uses a combination of worry/guilt making them think (if something bad happens to him/her it could end up being my fault.)  The third approach probably has little chances of working but it might, i've never had to try it yet, it works by using the economy/job market, and establishing rapport if the dr has a family he/she worries about.  Please post back and let me know if this info helped any of you and if you were able to finally get a diagnosis and find out what was causing your pain, or let me know if my strategies for talking to the drs worked for you.  I'm gonna use a seperate post to describe what i went through so you can see if you are going through the same symptoms i am, this is a condition lasting years and takes years to diagnose, IT IS NOT SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT IF YOU ARE JUST HAVING AN EAR/TOOTH/OR GLAND SWELLING FOR LESS THAN 3 OR 4 MONTHS.

[confused440]

Around Dec13rd, 2008 I got the flu, but it went away.  Around dec26th, still weak from the flu, I got a cold which turned into an ear infection.  I noiced around the new year that my righ submandibular gland was swollen.  I went 2 the doctor and he gave me amoxicillin.  I finished all my pills aroun jan5th, but my gland is still swollen and now I have recurring mild pain around my left tonsill which sometimes affects my ear.  

Is this still part of my infection  or is it something different?