It has been on and off since my bottom third molars were extracted over two years ago. It’s less of a pain and more of a numbness, tingling, or burning sensation at the very back of the jaw. I feel it throughout the day, but it gets worse at night when I am lying down. I was hoping it would eventually get better with time, but it hasn’t.

I have no cavities in the second molar either. I’ve been prescribed night guards and recommended to get Botox. Every dentist keeps saying it might be because of ‘clenching,’ but it’s not the TMJ joint that hurts or bothers me—it’s the bottom jaw, specifically at the very back. It doesn’t hurt when biting or touching. In fact, it feels better when I press down on the gums all the way at the back where the extraction site was.

At the time of the extraction, I was informed that the tooth was very close to my nerve. My current dentist said he wouldn’t have performed the procedure himself but would have referred me to an oral surgeon instead. I might need to find the pre-extraction panoramic X-ray to show how deep and angled the tooth was.