My patients with Trigeminal neuralgia have experienced intense pain that feels like it is coming from the teeth themselves, where TMJ pain will be within the joint, the muscles of the face and can be a bad ache in the teeth also (from clenching/grinding). I have only seen a few patients with Trigeminal neuralgia, though, so I am not an expert. They will describe the pain as similar to teeth that have needed root canals.

After I had my wisdom teeth removed, I started having problems with TMJ. I participated in a study that showed results of a MRI and the old test of injecting dye into the joint in the jaw. The tests showed the same result of strengthened ligaments in the jaw. So it is possible to find what is going on as far as TMJ. My TMJ pain makes it feel like I have a ear ache. My Chiropractor puts my jaw back in place.