Toothache as a symptom of PMR?

[LynnTLeeds]

Has anyone else had toothache around the time of diagnosis? I suffered for months with an aching jaw which gave me a dull ache in my teeth and ended up having an extraction which didn’t cure the problem. After being diagnosed with PMR it occurred to me that the jaw pain could have been associated with PMR. Is this a possibility?

[Janstr]

The sore jaw is more likely to be a symptom of GCA. Did the pain disappear when you went on pred?

[LynnTLeeds in reply to Janstr]

Yes, it did eventually. I’ve lived all my life with migraine and cluster headaches so that confuses things too when it comes to pain in my face/head. I guess I’ll just keep in slowly reducing the pred and see what happens next!

[FRnina]

Yes, I had toothache and jaw claudicationm Could hardly open my mouth and had difficulty chewing. This was classic GCA symptom (I was diagnosed with both PMR and GCA). GCA needs an initial high dose of prednisone to protect your eyesight. After I began pred (starting at 80mg, then 40mg then reducing as advised) the toothache and jaw claudication disappeared practically overnight.

[LynnTLeeds in reply to FRnina]

Thanks for that, i’ll See how I progress on the steroids but I mainly want to ensure dentists are aware there’s more to toothache than teeth!!!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Was it ongoing jaw pain or associated with eating?

I only have a PMR diagnosis but before diagnosis I did have a long period of jaw pain when singing, speaking for a long time and chewing which stopped with rest. I also had quite uncomfortable sensitive teeth - they can be due to PMR/GCA too and not just pred.

[PMRnewbie2017]

Pred can make your teeth sensitive to cold and your gums bleed more. For me the jaw involvement wasn't pronounced (I have unconfirmed GCA) and was an odd feeling. More like an ache, best described as the sensation a "normal" person might experience if they were eating a huge piece of toffee which caused them to chew a lot and exert much pressure to bite through it.

I always think the symptoms associated with PMR and GCA are so varied and individual it is really difficult to work out what exactly is going on, especially if one has other conditions.

The fact you are taking pred does make it less likely your eye sight will be affected. But medicine is not an exact science..........

[HeronNS]

Very sensitive teeth, seem generally better since I started taking a double dose of Vitamin K2, but also pred caused some gum recession, the dentist agrees with this, as my gums had been fine until I started taking pred. Pred has definitely speeded up the aging process for me.