I had a recent CT (Nov 2024) that showed slightly elongated styloids and calcified ligaments. However, my most recent pano from 2022, showed no evidence of elongation or calcification.
Can someone look at the images and let me know if:
The image just does not include the styloids/ligaments
Or, it should show it but whatever event caused the calcification/elongation must have taken place AFTER 2022).
Also, does anyone see any significant bone loss? All my dental and perio exams have always come back great and my dentist just said my last year exams were also great.
I can’t see your styloids in the pano x-ray. They aren’t always visible in those thus it’s not a good type of scan for an accurate diagnosis.
I don’t know what bone loss in teeth or jaw would look like so can’t comment on that except to say your teeth & jaws look great to me. If you’re having pain in your teeth, it’s most likely due to your elongated styloid irritating your glossopharyngeal nerve which can cause terrible pain in the teeth/gums.
You’ve done a good job of identifying your styloids. The right side is thick at the top then there’s a gap between it & a calcified section of your stylohyoid ligament which in effect makes the whole thing behave like an elongated styloid process. The image of your left styloid is at an odd angle but based on what you circled, it looks like a similar situation as the right one. The calcified ligaments can contribute to nerve irritation & the symptoms we know are related to ES.
I enlarged the pano x-ray & I think I can see the styloids each side , but I’m sorry that as I’m a tech o’ phobe I can’t circle them for you. They look a similar shape to your CT images, quite a thick blob & then the more needle like calcification of the ligament below.
The trigeminal nerve causes jaw & tooth pain, I had some dental work done thinking it was an issue with one tooth but it made no difference, it was ES causing the nerve pain! Amitriptyline helps it.
