Dear Dr. Hall,
\nThree weeks ago I had a upper molar extracted. It was sectioned in 3 pieces before extraction, and the tooth had previously had a root canal. The tooth fractured so had to be extracted. I have had terrible pain every late afternoon until evening that no pain reliever seems to help. The pain is in the lower jaw, though the tooth taken out was in the upper jaw. The right side of my face starts to feel numb, then I get shooting pains and then throbbing in the lower jaw up to my ear. Is there a reason for this? Can I do anything. It’s making me really cranky–it really hurts. I would really appreciate an answer if you have time.
\n– Nancy from Arizona<\/p>\n
Nancy, There needs to be some follow-up to find out exactly what is wrong. I would not let this go on any longer without some professional help. My first suspicion would be that there is a latent infection<\/a> somewhere in the neighborhood of where your tooth was extracted, and this is causing your pain. If that is the case, an aggressive and lengthy course of antibiotics would help. Even though the source of the pain would likely be in your upper jaw, sometimes you can experience referred pain in the lower jaw. The sensation of numbness is a little puzzling, and suggests that there may be some pressure on a nerve.<\/p>\n Lacking any other evidence, I would be inclined to try treating with a strong antibiotic<\/a> like clindamycin, and if that caused an improvement in your symptoms within three or four days, I would continue the treatment until all symptoms had been gone for three or four days. But a good examination may shed more light on the situation. Reply: Nancy<\/p>\n
\nIt’s not unusual for a tooth\u00a0extraction<\/a> to hurt like this. And as the day wears on, if you engage in normal daily activity, it throbs more and more. But this should have resolved within the first week, and you say it has been three weeks since you had this tooth extracted. So something is definitely wrong here.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Hall<\/p>\n
\nThank you Dr. Hall, I will follow your advice. I really appreciate your help. I am really tired of the pain.<\/p>\n\n\n
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