Chronic discomfort in site of wisdom teeth extraction nearly 10 months later

[Chris_NZ]

It started in February 2010 where I had a constant mild discomfort in the back right of my mouth.  Visit to dentist confirmed slightly impacted wisdom tooth on that side, oral surgeon recommended that he take all 4 out.  Due to other factors this surgery didn't take place until August.  All through those months in between though the pain came and went and varied - but it was never severe pain at all, just a discomfort that I always felt I wanted to lick at with my tongue etc.

After surgery the surgeon said the bone was very, very tough and they took some pulling to get out.  For the 2 weeks that followed I seemed to feel pretty good (aside from headaches etc and pain in jaw), but the feeling on the right had seemed to disappear which was my main concern.

Then a new discomfort seemed to manifest - but this time in the back left corner of mouth.  The discomfort seemed to eminate from the extraction sites, both up and down, but 90% lower.  Trying to describe the sensation is extremely difficult.  It's not painful in anyway, no stinging or burning.  But it is an extremely discouraging and life-affecting discomfort that's becoming very difficult to handle.  When I lick with my tongue at the extraction site I seem to be directly affecting it (which is why I am led to believe it is the extraction site).  However I have also had bursts of mouth ulcers and little bumps on my tongue that were extremely painful themselves.. but they seem to last only a day or two and they've since gone away pretty much.  

But 10 months on I am still experiencing this discomfort in the mouth.  Talking seems to make it worse.  Food and drink ease it considerably to the point that I don't even notice it while I'm eating, and this is a big problem because it makes me want to eat more and more which is not a long term way to live.  I went back to oral surgeon who did x-ray, and examined site visually and with finger and found it all nice and pink and healed well.... to be cont..

[Mario Tuchman, DMD, MD]

I would recommend consulting with a Facial Pain specialist as well.

[Chris_NZ]

cont..

I went to ENT just recently who suggested it was possibly stress related or the discomfort being magnified by my mind.  I admit I spend most of my day concentrating on the back left corner of my mouth, seeing how it is, wondering if I'm going to have a good or bad day, but deep down I don't believe it's in my mind.  There are times i've been under considerable stress and not had any discomfort at all, and other times where I've been relaxed and had it.  If I'm busy who have something to do I seem to notice it less, but then again I don't know.

I have periods when I might go for a few days without any discomfort, where it's virtually normal - but then it comes back.  I'll go in and out of this cycle over and over.  I then thought it was food related, maybe something in my diet, but again I don't believe so as it's not a typical symptom one would get from an intolerance.  

Is it worthwhile me getting an MRI.. or some other scan that can look at the tissue more closely?  Is there something possibly there causing this that might be uncovered by a scan?