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By: Ikedi Ani-okoye

If you've taken philosophy, you've been exposed to the following logical syllogism:

God is love.
Love is blind.
Ray Charles is blind.
Therefore, Ray Charles is God.

Most of us would reject this syllogism with good reason, but the point is that what might seem logical is not necessarily so.

If you experience sensitive or sore teeth, you may come to the logical conclusion that your teeth are to blame. But your teeth might not be the whole problem. In fact, they could just be innocent victims of a larger problem. Unfortunately, many dentists may do the same thing, jumping to the conclusion that the tooth is the problem, and possibly even remove the nerve in the tooth with a root canal or extract the entire tooth before considering other possible causes for sore and sensitive teeth.

What Else Could It Be?

There are actually a lot of possible causes. The mouth is an extremely complex place, and sometimes the cause of pain can be very far removed from the pain itself. Although the tooth could be suffering from decay that must be rectified with either a porcelain filling or a porcelain crown, it's entirely possible that it is just a contributing factor, or even completely unrelated. Tooth problems can sometimes be felt as headaches, and the pain in the tooth can be a sign of problems elsewhere in the jaw.

TMJS? TMD? MPD?

Temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJS), temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD), and mysofacial pain dysfunction (MPD) are three different labels for the same group of symptoms, including headaches, facial pain, and jaw pain, in addition to sore teeth. If you have some combination of these symptoms in addition to the soreness or sensitivity in your teeth, you may be suffering from TMJ/TMD.

The temporomandibular joints (TMJ) are the joints where our jaw connects to our skull. These very complicated joints are located in front of our ears and are a complex intersection of muscles, bones, and nerves adjacent to the throat, spine, and ears. These bones, muscles, and nerves all have to function together to accomplish their tasks—little things like talking, eating, and facial expressions—while staying clear of airways and nerves dedicated to other functions such as breathing and hearing.

TMD occurs when this complicated joint is out of alignment or stressed. This most often results from the condition of “malocclusion” or bad bite such as overbite or underbite. Although it may seem a local condition, it has far-reaching effects, from intense, migraine-like headaches to pain in the face, neck, and shoulders, to numbness or tingling in the arms as well as sore teeth.

Get a Second Opinion

Most dental practitioners think in terms of the teeth. The word dentist comes from the Greek word for tooth. Dentists are trained and educated in dealing with the teeth, so it’s not surprising they might presuppose teeth are responsible for dental problems. They might be right. But they might not be. The easiest way to check their diagnosis is to get a second opinion from a dentist trained in thinking about the mouth and jaw as a unit composed of bones, muscles, nerves, and flesh, what are called neuromuscular dentists, such as those trained at the leading school for neuromuscular dentistry, the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI).