Painful, sensitive teeth after abdominal surgery -- why?
September 6, 2024 2:42 PM
I had emergency abdominal surgery a week ago, and my teeth have been painfully sensitive to things like drinking liquids at any temperature below room temp, chewing, or sucking on hard candies. I'm baffled. The explanations I can think might be causing are are below...
I'm trying to follow my doctor's orders and stay well-hydrated while my guts heal up, but it's hard when drinking even slightly col water makes my teeth throb. The only things I can think of to explain it are:
-- I wasn't able to eat or drink anything at all for two days post-surgery, but was allowed mouth swabs and sugar-free hard candies. I sucked on a LOT of sugar-free Jolly Ranchers, because wow, my mouth tasted bad. But I eat a ton of those anyway.
-- I didn't have my night guard at the hospital, and thus am certain that I clenched my teeth hard every time I managed to fall asleep. That wasn't a lot of sleeping time, though, because hospitals are the worst.
-- I didn't brush my teeth much in the hospital, because of largely being bed-bound. But if that was the issue, wouldn't it just be one spot, not my whole mouth?
Has anyone else had this happen? It's so odd, and so unpleasant. The pain in my incisions is pretty much gone, but ow, my teeth!
I'm trying to follow my doctor's orders and stay well-hydrated while my guts heal up, but it's hard when drinking even slightly col water makes my teeth throb. The only things I can think of to explain it are:
-- I wasn't able to eat or drink anything at all for two days post-surgery, but was allowed mouth swabs and sugar-free hard candies. I sucked on a LOT of sugar-free Jolly Ranchers, because wow, my mouth tasted bad. But I eat a ton of those anyway.
-- I didn't have my night guard at the hospital, and thus am certain that I clenched my teeth hard every time I managed to fall asleep. That wasn't a lot of sleeping time, though, because hospitals are the worst.
-- I didn't brush my teeth much in the hospital, because of largely being bed-bound. But if that was the issue, wouldn't it just be one spot, not my whole mouth?
Has anyone else had this happen? It's so odd, and so unpleasant. The pain in my incisions is pretty much gone, but ow, my teeth!
Intubation can cause damage to the teeth. You can loose fillings, chip teeth and stuff. So it is possible that your new sensitivity is due to damage to a tooth or teeth. You'd need to see a dentist to get it addressed if that's the case.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:11 PM on September 6
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:11 PM on September 6
Fruit candy often has a lot of acid to make it tangy, so you may have etched down your enamel a bit if you ate a lot. You can rebuild you enamel to a point though - try using sensitivity toothpaste and sensitivity mouthwash to refill your tooth tubules, and maybe go get a fluoride treatment. Hope you feel better soon!
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:31 PM on September 6
posted by nouvelle-personne at 3:31 PM on September 6
How are your sinuses? I often get referred tooth pain when I'm getting a sinus infection.
posted by TwoStride at 4:14 PM on September 6
posted by TwoStride at 4:14 PM on September 6
How much of an emergency was it?
I ask because anesthetic gases come in highly compressed form or as actual liquids in tanks, and as they are released they naturally expand or undergo a phase change and then expand as they come out of the tank, and that makes them cold — very cold.
Cold enough to freeze your teeth quite easily, I suspect, but they are probably warmed up considerably before they’re administered in the normal course of events, yet I can imagine that a medical situation in which every second counted might have led to an abbreviation of such a procedure.
Jearl Walker, who wrote the 'Amateur Scientist' column in Scientific American for years and was also a teacher of physics, did a lot of classroom demonstrations in which he put liquid nitrogen in his mouth, but stopped when he found out he was cracking his teeth, perhaps because his dentist pointed it out, but I’m not sure.
I would want a very sophisticated dentist to check things out if I were you, and until then I would stick to lukewarm liquids and foods.
posted by jamjam at 4:20 PM on September 6
I ask because anesthetic gases come in highly compressed form or as actual liquids in tanks, and as they are released they naturally expand or undergo a phase change and then expand as they come out of the tank, and that makes them cold — very cold.
Cold enough to freeze your teeth quite easily, I suspect, but they are probably warmed up considerably before they’re administered in the normal course of events, yet I can imagine that a medical situation in which every second counted might have led to an abbreviation of such a procedure.
Jearl Walker, who wrote the 'Amateur Scientist' column in Scientific American for years and was also a teacher of physics, did a lot of classroom demonstrations in which he put liquid nitrogen in his mouth, but stopped when he found out he was cracking his teeth, perhaps because his dentist pointed it out, but I’m not sure.
I would want a very sophisticated dentist to check things out if I were you, and until then I would stick to lukewarm liquids and foods.
posted by jamjam at 4:20 PM on September 6
My first thought was the intubation, but the sensitivity is equally present all around my mouth, not just on one side or one area.
posted by maryellenreads at 4:21 PM on September 6
posted by maryellenreads at 4:21 PM on September 6
That is very odd...
I was on a ventilator for three days back at the end of 2022. EDIT: Half of my neck is still numb, and probably always will be. So I'd lean towards the intubation. It certainly could have irritated various nerves and such that could effect all your teeth.
And sorry. Worst pain I have ever felt was tooth pain from having an abscess and needing a root canal ASAP. You have a lot of nerves in your mouth/teeth/jaws. Doesn't take much to have those go sideways.
posted by Windopaene at 4:36 PM on September 6
I was on a ventilator for three days back at the end of 2022. EDIT: Half of my neck is still numb, and probably always will be. So I'd lean towards the intubation. It certainly could have irritated various nerves and such that could effect all your teeth.
And sorry. Worst pain I have ever felt was tooth pain from having an abscess and needing a root canal ASAP. You have a lot of nerves in your mouth/teeth/jaws. Doesn't take much to have those go sideways.
posted by Windopaene at 4:36 PM on September 6
Really, it could be so many things. Sinuses, jaw ache, sore teeth from not using a night guard, badly inflamed gums from the candies, on and on. If you can get in to see a dentist ASAP, I'd strongly suggest it. And definitely talk to your doctor!
I've had plenty of times where my tooth agony sent me scurrying to the dentist, only to find out that my teeth were OK but they were just sore as hell from me grinding them again. (And I use a night guard!) So, it is quite possible for a few days without a night guard to cause some pretty serious pain. The relatively good news is that if your entire mouth hurts, it's less likely to be a cracked tooth or an abscess or something else requiring a lot of expensive, yucky dental work. It's probably gonna just go away, with time. In the meantime, I'd suggest swishing some warmish saltwater around a few times a day. If this is an inflamed gum thing, that can help.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:58 PM on September 6
I've had plenty of times where my tooth agony sent me scurrying to the dentist, only to find out that my teeth were OK but they were just sore as hell from me grinding them again. (And I use a night guard!) So, it is quite possible for a few days without a night guard to cause some pretty serious pain. The relatively good news is that if your entire mouth hurts, it's less likely to be a cracked tooth or an abscess or something else requiring a lot of expensive, yucky dental work. It's probably gonna just go away, with time. In the meantime, I'd suggest swishing some warmish saltwater around a few times a day. If this is an inflamed gum thing, that can help.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:58 PM on September 6
If you are on anti inflammatories for the surgery recovery, does your mouth feel more or less sensitive when you’ve recently had a dose? That would tell you if the issue is related is inflammation of tissues there. If anti inflammatories don’t do anything then it could be a million and one other things. The head is crammed full of stuff! Absolutely talk to your care team about this - a nurse practitioner might have more actionable advice - and maybe seek a referral to an ENT. There’s a reason there are a bunch of different specialties for all the stuff in our skulls.
posted by Mizu at 5:24 PM on September 6
posted by Mizu at 5:24 PM on September 6
Thanks, all. I'm going to give it a few days -- the gigantic belly incision means I don't really feel up to sitting in a dentist chair -- but if it doesn't improve, I'll call my dentist.
(Mizu, I can't take anti-inflammatories at all, so it's not that!)
posted by maryellenreads at 6:11 PM on September 6
(Mizu, I can't take anti-inflammatories at all, so it's not that!)
posted by maryellenreads at 6:11 PM on September 6
You may have had something in your mouth during surgery, and your mouth could have gotten quite dry. Call the surgeon's office and ask.
posted by theora55 at 8:41 PM on September 6
posted by theora55 at 8:41 PM on September 6
It may just be the Jolly Ranchers. You say you eat them normally but if you were having a lot more than usual? I eat a lot of sugar-free hard candy and I had to give up the cinnamon and ginger ones because they gave me pain kind of like what you describe.
posted by BibiRose at 6:40 AM on September 7
posted by BibiRose at 6:40 AM on September 7
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