I’m a freshman in college right now, and about a month after I moved in and started school, I began experiencing jaw/tooth pain and discomfort across my whole face and jaw, but mainly in my upper left jaw and teeth. My immediate thought was a cavity/tooth decay because a few weeks before school I had a very small cavity removed, so my brain immediately went to the worst possible scenario. 

For two weeks after I started experiencing any symptoms, I continued to panic, convincing myself it was over brushing, wisdom teeth etc. 

After that period of time I went to the dentist with my fears, only for them to check for about 10 minutes looking at my teeth, gums, and feeling around my mouth and jaw and told me that my jaw muscles and that area were inflamed. Their suggestion was to use hot compress and pain medication like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. 

That visit was a little less than a month and a half ago, and in that time I have been using hot compress, ibuprofen/acetaminophen, have seen a psychiatrist and been put on anxiety medication(which doesn’t do much but it helps a little), started meditating, listening to sound therapy audios, trying to eat healthy, and trying to actively relax my jaw. During the last month I have also been through a bout of cold/flu, and, as I live in a dormitory, ended up hitting my head on the underside of a lofted bed which I’m sure didn’t help anything. 

For a period of time my jaw seemed to be getting better but this monday evening I sat forward and had a strong pain in my upper left jaw/teeth which caused a (mild?) panic attack. 

I haven’t had that intense pain since but I am still stressed and anxious about my teeth/jaw and have set up another appointment in hopes of 100% verifying whether or not my jaw is the problem.