I wonder if my wisdom teeth might be coming up, so I thought I would compare experiences with some dopers and see if that is what it is.
I have a pain in the “joint” of my jaws on the left hand side. I have had it for a number of days. It is not actual tooth ache though. It is not incredibly painful, but I am aware of it most of the time (it is however very painful when poked with a toothbrush). The joint itself feels quite “stiff”. This has led to me walking around with my jaw clenched (gently, not firmly). It hurts a little more when I move it to speak or eat, but is only “background” painful when I hold it still. The pain/sensation is somewhat familiar, I feel as if I have probably had it before at some point.
Does this sound like what you have experienced when your wisdom teeth came up, or is there something else wrong with me?
I dunno, Iteki. I had, as I recall, mostly a tightness in the jaw on occasion, and later a great desire to teethe once they started poking through. That’s an interesting experience… biting down on hard food to achieve a strange sort of pseudopain from the gum tissure that the tooth is perforating as it emerges.
Now, after they were removed, I didn’t feel a lot lot (it was pretty sore, but not unbearable) for the first three days. Then, for the next three it was sleep-annihilating, skeleton-piercing agony. Then it got a little better. Then it pretty well went away, by a week or 9 days after the teeth were removed.
It’s been several years now, but I seem to recall that my wisdom tooth pain was more like an occasional shooting pain through the nerves and some throbbing gum pain.
Joint pain and stiffness reminds me more of what I have experienced from TMJ (jawjoint problems).
Whatever it is, good luck getting this taken care of.
What you describe sounds like when my right wisdom teeth were coming in: my upper w.t. came in first, then the bottom one a few weeks later. During that time, the gum was still over the lower one, and I would end up “chewing” on the gum as the lower tooth rose. I could hold my jaw closed, but opening it slightly would cause the upper tooth to grind into the gum over the lower one. Eventually the gum receded, and all was well.
I figured it out by looking in a mirror and (gently!) poking the sore spot with my finger - it felt square and solid, like a tooth, and I could see the upper tooth coming down into it as I closed my mouth. Eventually I could see the four points of the tooth as it came in, and it became very tender in the center as the gum grew thinner. During that time, I used lots and lots of Anbesol and worked on my ventriloquism skills.
Of course, I know hardly anything about dentristry aside from “brush and floss,” so hie thee to a dentist and take my advice with a mouthful of salt.