Random pain in tooth when chewing, but can't reproduce

Hi all,

I am having a new issue that I've never had before, and it's strange because I can't reproduce it. I get this pretty sharp pain in one of my lower teeth when I bite into food the first time, but it's just the first time. Successive chews don't cause it. I can't even tell exactly which tooth hurts because it happens once then goes away for a while. I think it's the second tooth back from the canine (second bicuspid?), but I'm not sure. None of the teeth feel loose or anything. I've tried pushing on them with my finger like I'm chewing on something, but no pain. I can't see anything unusual in the mirror. I do have some gingivitis going on. It's been over a year since my last cleaning and I have a good amount of tartar. No other dental issues though. Is this the start of a cavity? I've never had one, I don't know what it's like. Ideas?

Maybe I should mention that I also have ear pain on the same side and my ENT recently diagnosed it as TMJ which kind of blew my mind. I don't know if that could be related to this but felt like I should mention it.

submitted by /u/RunawayMeatstick
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from https://www.reddit.com/r/Dentistry/comments/gkjze7/random_pain_in_tooth_when_chewing_but_cant/