I’ve started to have tooth pain in my lower right jaw. The weird thing: it only hurts when I swallow. Chewing doesn’t hurt it. Trying to wiggle my teeth with my fingers to determine which tooth hurts doesn’t work. None of them hurt by movement. Grinding my teeth together doesn’t hurt.
I thought maybe I was clenching my teeth when I swallowed, but I tried swallowing with my teeth apart, and I still felt the pain.
The pain itself isn’t bad. I put it at about 2/10.
Since the pain only happens when I swallow, I can’t pinpoint the tooth or teeth that hurt, but I’d say the pain is closer to the back of my jaw than the front.
Anyone have any ideas what this could be? Or have you had anything similar?
It could be referred pain from somewhere else. It could also be that it only hurts when there is negative pressure in your mouth. Try sucking a drink through a straw (or smoking a cigarette, if you smoke) and see if that makes it hurt.
Have you ever had issues with TMJ or jaw/facial pain?
I have experienced pain similar to what you’re describing as a result of an ear infection. The slight pressure changes in my ear from swallowing, combined with the inflammation, was doing something to trigger it. I suspect it was putting pressure on a nerve somehow, making me perceive pain elsewhere.
Have you checked to see if you have a slight fever, or other signs of infection?
Coudl be eustachion tube (see Balance, above) or saliva gland pain. the sucking would put pressure on the contents of either and cause pain if there’s swelling or a blockage.
Is the pain just above your second to last molar? Try feeling iwth your tongue ont he inside of the cheek right there - is that flap of skin tender? Saliva gland.
Try pressing gently in the hollow of your neck just behind the lower jaw joint. Does it hurt? Eustachion tube. (earache)
No fever and no other signs of infection (like redness or swelling, I assume?).
However, you might be on to something here. When I swallow, the pain feels like unpleasant pressure of a liquid moving through a tube. Once the liquid is thru the tube, the pain is over.
I’m one of those people who can “pop” their ears at will. I did that, and I also did the “hold your nose and blow out thru it” maneuver. Neither of those really create the pain (if at all, it’s just very slightly).
“Is the pain just above your second to last molar? Try feeling with your tongue on the inside of the cheek right there - is that flap of skin tender? Saliva gland.”
Yes, I do feel a little tenderness there. I just did a little more poking around in my mouth with my finger. None of the teeth hurt when moved, but the gum just behind my last molar is tender. I’ve never had my wisdom teeth out and I’m <mumble, mumble> years old, well past the time when people normally have wisdom tooth problems.
