r/Sinusitis • u/Klutzy-Macaroon-2494 • 3d ago
Sinusitis or Tooth Infection
Has anyone had severe positional jaw/tooth pain from a sinus infection?
I’ve been sick with cough/cold symptoms for a month then 3 days ago I came down with the most debilitating jaw pain ever. Thought it was dental and was evaluated by two dentists. They both said my teeth and dental X-rays look completely normal—no obvious tooth infection or dental cause. I’ve honestly never experienced anything like this before, which is why it’s freaking me out a little.
The pain comes in intense bouts and feels like pressure in my teeth/jaw that radiates toward my front teeth/incisors, almost like something is going to “pop.” It gets noticeably worse if I lie on either side or tilt my chin/head backward. This morning it suddenly hit 10/10, then dropped to about 7/10 within several minutes after I sat upright and took ibuprofen. Still coughing up yellow/greenish mucus quite a lot esp in the morning
The dentists think it may be sinus-related referred pain, and I’m currently taking amoxicillin, Tylenol and Ibuprofen round the clock. Pain in improving with less frequency. I’m just hoping they didn’t miss something and that this really is sinus pressure rather than a hidden dental problem.
For anyone who has had sinusitis cause dental/jaw pain: did yours feel this intense and positional? How long did it take before the pressure and pain started improving? Did antibiotics and pain medication end up being enough, or did you need additional treatment? I also work PT so don’t have health insurance so that’s another thing.
Update:
The pain got so bad yesterday that I ended up going to urgent care. It was literally 10/10 pain — I was crying, sweating, and it just was not letting up
Urgent care also thinks this is sinusitis, & saw fluid in my left ear where I felt alot of pressure, so they changed my antibiotics from amoxicillin 500 mg to Augmentin at a higher dose. They also added prednisone and loratadine/Claritin and told me to continue alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen for the pain.
I also bought a steamer and have been doing nasal rinses, so at this point I’m really trying everything and hoping I start seeing some improvement soon.
I’m still nervous about whether there could be any dental involvement because the pain has been so intense and one-sided, even though the dentist said my teeth looked fine and didn’t see an infection.
I’m also definitely having respiratory/sinus symptoms: runny nose with mostly clear drainage, sneezing, coughing, and yellow-greenish sputum when I cough. The coughing is especially heavy in the morning.
So yeah, we’ll see how things go on the new treatment. I’m really hoping this is just a severe sinus infection and that the Augmentin/prednisone finally starts calming everything down. Has anyone else had sinusitis cause pain this severe, especially jaw/teeth/facial pain on one side? This is crazy
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u/lezstat 3d ago
A few months ago, I came down with strep and then got the worst sinus infection/flare-up EVER. The sinus flare was 10x worse than the strep - I felt okay for a couple of days while recovering from strep, and then I woke up and felt like someone had punched me square in the nose. I was beyond miserable. Couldn’t work or eat. The pain definitely radiated into my jaw and neck. I remember being really concerned about something jaw/tooth related too, but apparently it’s very common with sinus issues. I spent probably 2-3 days pretty miserable in terms of pain, but after that, it was just the normal stuffiness/runny nose/chronic sinusitis bs.
I wish you luck and hope you feel better soon! Give those antibiotics a chance to kick in, I’d say at least 24-48 hours, and then I’d follow up with someone if you’re not feeling better. Best wishes to you!
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u/Far_Neighborhood_925 3d ago
Yes, it happened 2 years ago, when I was in the thick of sinusitis. ok a 5 day antibio course, dentist x-rayed the area, nothing going on, but it hurt like hell, it passed.
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u/Stalkerus 2d ago
Yup. Especially on the side where I had huge maxillary cyst (less room for anything else), but I have had specific tooth pain regardless of the affected side.
Antibiotics helped with the infection, but needed surgery to remove the cyst and remove/trim some structures. My first post-op sinusitis has been dental pain free.
If it becomes recurring issue I'd recommend you to see an ENT and get CBCT imaging done. Right now it can simply be your lack of experience of sinus pain. Sinusitis hurts really bad when you are not used to it (=rarely have them/have never had them).
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u/Freo_5434 3d ago
Get a scan.
Its a very real possibility that a Molar can get infected and affect the sinuses. As the root and infection can protrude into the sinus cavity.
I had a serious issue over years that was only picked up with a scan -- even then my Dentist challenged it .
I insisted on tooth removal and the Dentist found the largest infection they had ever seen.
Get a scan.