Atypical Facial Pain - Effect on Taste?

[Lydia__0]

    
      Re: Atypical Facial Pain - Effect on Taste?
    


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Posted by CCF MD mdf on March 10, 1998 at 12:19:35:

In Reply to: Atypical Facial Pain - Effect on Taste? posted by Lydia on March 09, 1998 at 21:44:32:

: I have symptoms that are most similar to atypcial facial pain. This all started when I had two teeth crowned (in Sep 97) and later a root canal in one of them.  Shortly after the crowns, and continuing until today, I get strange tastes in my mouth  (soapy, bitter, etc) and various sensations (burning, stinging, etc) on my tongue. I have also had a signifcant degree of pain inupper, lower teeth and other areas all of which seem related to the trigeminal nerve.  I have seen a host of DDS, Endontists, ENT, Neurolgists. Now a DMD focusing on pain mgmt is treating me with 50 MG./day of pamelor which has had some success.  No one can explain the taste; can you?. I had a CAT SCAN (to investigte pssible sinus problems) and MRI which was negative.
=
Pain in the face may be related to irritation of the trigeminal nerve (fifth cranial nerve, CN5). The "typical" facial pain syndrome is called trigeminal neuralgia. The sensation of pain in the tongue is also carried by that nerve.
However, the sense of taste is not conveyed by the trigeminal nerve. Instead, it is relayed to the brain by the facial (CN7), glossopharyngeal (CN9), and vagus (CN10). There is a region in the lower brainstem which is the first relay in processing taste.
Determining the specific problem would require careful assessment of your taste sensation on both sides of the tongue, front part vs back part, and on the back of the throat. That way, one could try to assess whether this was a peripheral (nerve related) or central (brainstem related) problem.
For symptomatic relief of painful unusual sensations, pamelor and related medications are often quite effective.