Phantom - Teeth?

The naturally (?) occurring Phantom Limb phenomena begs me to wonder - what about Phantom Tooth Pain?

This can be due to the nerve ending in the area sending signals of pain to the patient’s brain, though no physical cause for the pain exists within the mouth.

There may be an existing issue with the way the patient’s brain interprets pain signals, or this issue may be isolated to the nerves in the tooth area.

A dentist or endodontist may take some time to diagnose a patient with phantom tooth pain, as there are no external signs of the pain.

Diagnosis is typically done through observation over time and process of elimination to ensure there is no physical cause for the pain.

Since it is caused by an error in the processing of pain between the nerves and the brain, phantom tooth pain does not typically get better or stop without some form of treatment by a professional.

I had a tooth pulled a number of years ago and I can still 'feel' it. The pain with hot and cold, the feeling as if there is something 'stuck' in it. Estremely irritating at the least.

I talked to one dentist who had never heard of such a case - yet another had heard of and in fact treated the case he knew of by removing underlying nerves where the tooth had been - but no luck, the patient still suffered from the 'phantom tooth' syndrome(?).

I'm curious if anyone here has dealt with this issue?

I had all my teeth pulled after they started to push up from a reaction to medicine. Supposedly It is a response of the body to stop an animal from eating something it shouldn't eat, a protective feature. The teeth would then break when I would eat and the tops were uneven.

After they were all pulled I had some issues for a year but no problem after that. All the pain and suffering and money over the years to keep my teeth in good shape and within four years they were all broken with some crowns that were put on already from this crumbling off. I decided to have them all pulled, I would have had to have thirteen crowns put on and some caps to keep them. The doctor took me off the meds I was using after seeing all the bad reactions.

False teeth suck, I have a pair, I hated them. Having no teeth is just fine, I can still eat almost everything. In a society where all sorts of foods already able to eat are available, we don't really even need teeth anymore.

I have read about the phantom pain in teeth, even in ones where they drilled out the nerve. I had two of those done before getting them pulled, they hurt so I did some research.

a reply to: silo13

Mine is probably an odd case because I have a second mandibular foramen and multiple buds on the lower jaw.

However, I can vouch for the phantom tooth syndrome. I have an upper second molar that has always been sensitive to cold and gives me a piercing pain with the occasional sweet.

Problem is I haven't had that tooth in 5 years or so. My wisdom teeth are out (third time on the lower jaw...) and the first molar on that side has always been fine. My dentist says it's all in my head...