Mouth pain, tooth, referred pain...?

I don't know what to do about pain feeling on inside of lower left jaw area of mouth, below the teeth line, not in gums, and it is concentrated in one area. I was guessing it might be a tooth problem? So made emergency visit to the dentist. Xray found nothing, he did a deep cleaning and still found no dental reason to explain the pain. Also the novacane shot that I got lasted for one week, that area of mouth was numb for one week after. The other areas of my mouth that had novacane did not do this. I mentioned this to the dentist and he was puzzled.

Right after dentist I saw Primary Care Dr. and she merely as an aside said something about those kinds of pain in the mouth were called m....? Didn't catch it, but I was given penicillin that would take care of this if it was an infection. The pain subsided but still felt like there was still something lingering there. That was four months ago.

Now the pain is back, I feel a slight nodule and it is sensitive to the touch. All similar to what I initally felt four months ago that prompted me to make emergency visit to the dentist. Now don't know what to do.

Can this be referred pain, sinusitis? I have slight allergies but not what I would consider serious. But I just now noticed on the write up that my primary physician wrote "acute sinusitis". We didn't discuss this and since I wasn't examined for that, is the mouth pain sinusitis, infection???

I am at a loss and don't know what to do to get rid of this pain and problem in my mouth, specifically inside the lower left jaw, below the tooth line and it is concentrated in one area on the bottom in the middle (at the chin line). Your help will be much appreciated, many thanks.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Tough to say without examining you.  If you feel a nodule or lump that is leading to your pain, you can consider a referral to an oral surgeon to possibly biopsy the lesion.  

Although possible, I am not aware of sinusitis referring pain to the area that you are describing.  

You also may want to consider imaging studies - like a plain film or CT scan to evaluate for any possible masses.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
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