Migraine

I have a tooth which my dentist said needs to be pulled. It's on the right side of my mouth, and coincidentally, my migraines are on the right side of my head.

Could these 2 be related?

And to answer your question of why I haven't had the dumb tooth pulled ;o) I'm terrified of the dentist!!! I might have to see if they'll just give me a Valium so I can get it over with!

LisaB

I had a bad tooth that triggered all kinds of migraines, which I eventually had pulled. It made a huge difference with that tooth gone. I also had my wisdom teeth out a while back, and found that they had been triggering me, too (a couple of them were sideways, and were impinging on nerves). It was well worth getting problem teeth out, headachewise.

Keeping in mind that I've had a LONG week- post dental wise-

I agree... My dentist even asked me how I managed with a tooth that needed to be pulled in my mouth. He said he was surprised that it didn't cause all kind of pain... especially since he knows about my nasty migraines. It was a lightbulb moment.

Of course, he did so much other stuff in my mouth that I'm dealing with pain from that... so... Meh.

But, I think once the area heals completely, and the rest of the dental work is done (longish project!), I may wind up even happier, migraine wise.

As for a dentist giving you a valium or a tranquilizer of some sort, there are definitely dentists that do that for patients... they don't want a scared patient in their chair-- probably makes it harder for them. Also, some dentists do sedation dentistry... You may want to ask your dentist what they can do to help you out!

I am not sure if it can, but I know when I got my wisdom teeth pulled (all four of them at once... thankfully I was knocked out for it), it did give me that clicking and grinding in my jaw. One dentist said it was TMJ and could be a migraine trigger, but I am not sure it is, although likely does not help. A good enough reason not to chew gum for me.

Recently I went to the dentist for some nasty tooth pain, turns out I needed a root cannal (which is not nearly as unpleasant as it sounds, cause your numb lip to eyeball and afterwards their is no nerve to cause any pain). While I will admit when that tooth hurt, it hurt a lot, with a pain shooting right into the jaw, but did not trigger a migraine... although it was a fronal tooth, so I don't think it really could have, whereas some of those back teeth have deep roots.

I don't really like dentists myself, all that keeping the jaw open business is painful. And although I have never had a cavity, I tend to have other more expensive things to be done. Still I feel exceptionally lucky, give my bf went at the same time as me, needed two wisdom teeth pulled, two cleanings and has ten cavities. Who gets ten cavities in two years? Poor guy had the hugest swollen jaw, and they gave him some anti-inflamatory for the pain, but he can't take them cause he has a problem with his stomach.

I hope that did not just scare you off going to the dentist! It seems to me the more frequently a person goes the better it is, except for my bf, who seriously has some sensative teeth. Still it seems dentists opt for a root cannal over actually pulling the tooth... as you don't need the root of the tooth, all it does is give you cold and heat sensativity. And really, root canals not that bad... and not having that pain is even better. Hello ice cream!

I've had some experience with this, too. Back in January, I had an abcessed tooth that caused some really crazy head pain. In fact, I first thought it was migraine pain. Right now, I need some deep scaling work done on a couple of teeth, and when the gums get inflamed in that area, it tends to contribute to headaches. From what my dentist told me, the upper teeth are particularly likely to aggravate head pain, because some of the nerves there hook into the trigeminal nerve, which is often aggravated by migraine.

Robin

This is an interesting topic for me. One of the worst Migraines ever for me was triggered by having dental work--oral surgery, to be exact. I had an 'apicoectomy' which is what they do in a last ditch effort to save your tooth when a root canal fails. They go into your gums and take out the bad root that way and repair things. I had only local anesthesia with gas. I rarely get nausea with my Migraines but this one was a doozy. I was nauseated at the slightest noise; the slightest sound--everything made me incredibly ill. Holy Moly. If that's how it is with most of y'all and your regular Migraines, I do not know how you function.

The tooth I had worked on was one of the 6 upper front ones on the same side of my head where ALL my Migraines originate. In fact, I can ease the Migraine pain occasionally by pushing on that tooth and the one next to it. It sure has made me suspicious in the past as to whether the tooth is a huge culprit STILL in this nasty Migraine business. It's right up against my sinuses and must be close to the pain pathways and everything. It has never stopped being somewhat sensitive even though pain isn't usually there except during Migraines. Makes me wonder how that can be when the root is completely gone?

Just the idea of dental work has always made me cringe. I'd rather go to the GYN--and I'm someone who's had plenty of surgeries and problems with that--than have dental work done.

Ja i tink tooth issues can triggers or agrivate migraine.

As I types this I has abcess infect tooth that needs to be re rootcanal and i has see specialist to has done but that is 3 month out so i on cancelation list but UGH PAIN ......

I tink it trigger min migraine i gots Sunday and the tooth has been no stop pain for 2 day now.

Hopes you gets the tooth takes care of soon.

Hugs,

Sol

Hope your tooth is taken care of soon, too, Sol. Dental pain is among the worst.

I'd rather have a spinal tap then a root canal!

I can't help bu notice how many of us have dental problems. I think I have had a lot of problems over the past several years and think it was cuased by medications I have been on. One, in particular, was Elavil. I was on it for a couple of years and did not find out until after I stopped taking it that it can cause tooth decay. Just thought I would mention it to you guys.

Hi Sherry,

If you read the side effects of most meds, they will list dry mouth. The chemistry of dry mouth causes tooth decay. I'm not sure about how all of this stuff works. I'm lucky enough to have a dentist who keeps up with the down side of the pill pushers.

Take care, Bob

I just had all my wisdom teeth out last weekend. I am 31 and of course wisdom teeth removal is usually done as a teenager or in early 20s. A friend said to me, "What if your migraines went away now? What if you lived this long with migaines caused by your wisdom teeth?" I don't think that's my case and if it is, I'll be highly surprised. I know a lot of people do suffer headaches due to their teeth.

Oh, I was to take a valium one hour before my appt. When I arrived at the oral surgeon's office, I was barely nervous. If you can get a prescription for Valium, do it!

Just getting my wisdom teeth out almost immediately cut my migraines down drastically, both in terms of intensity and frequency. I was very surprised, but apparently, the impingment on the other teeth and nerves from the impaction was triggering me without my knowing it. Hopefully your migraines will slack off the same way. We can hope!

I'd believe it. I had one cavity the size of Montana... and when food got there, it stayed and sang "Home on the Range."

No, seriously- it was a small chip on the side of my tooth- that wasn't cosmetically nasty, so I didn't say anything. During my last round of dental visits, the nasty pain-maker was filled. I think the level of migraine activity has decreased by some rather marked value... And eating is better too. Glad he filled it, and I'm pretty convinced that the reduction is definitely causally related!

Hope that helps- and that you're feeling a lot better by now...

I don't fear dentistry for the most part. I have a wonderful dentist, and just in general, I have a strong tolerance for pain. Last December I had a toothache and then had a root canal. I had a headache at the time of the root canal, and asked if I could take my migraine rescue meds instead of the Vicodin the dentist prescribed!

Of course there's not pain during the root canal procedure--but I did have severe pain a couple of days later, when an infection set in. No more headache, though. It took me two rounds of antibiotics to get rid of the infection; my mouth just seems very susceptible to that.

Good luck with your dentistry. In the long run, you'll be glad you got it done.