I have had jaw pain for a week or so but the other night I also had chest pain and sweats. I still have the jaw pain. I am going to see my dentist today to see if I have and infection in my teeth but after reading some information about jaw pain I am now concerned about a heart attack. Should I go to the ER ? I .no longer have the chest pain
Greetings! Welcome to Chat Doctor, and thank you for your question. I understand your concern. Combining the chest pain (angina - heaviness of moderate to severe intensity in the mid-chest, radiating to the jay, left shoulder and left arm), jaw pain and cold sweats, we may have the scenario of a heart attack, indeed. But, before the dental procedure, I would suggest you to go the emergency room, and an EKG should be done and blood troponin and CK-MB (blood markers of heart cell destruction) should be measured. If they come back normal, a heart attack will be ruled out. Even with these tests normal, we cannot rule out the coronary artery disease. But, you may proceed with the dental procedure. After the dental procedure is done, I would recommend also an echocardiogram (to evaluate the heart muscle and valves, also the volumes of the heart chambers; particularly to see the movement of the heart muscle, which may be normal, or with decreased motility, in which case this can be a sign of a remote or recent heart attack) and a cardiac stress test, which help us determine if there is a coronary artery condition or not. I hope I was helpful. Take care.