Can stress induced clenching of the teeth and strained jaw muscles cause swollen glands in the neck? My life became quite stressful a year ago when my newborn daughter suffered a stroke.  She is fine now but I have been struggling with some painful and scary symptoms.  When she was about 4 months old I had a dental filling put in.  The dentist used a horrible dental dam contraption on a metal frame that really wrenched my mouth open.  From that point on I have had face pain and noticed a swollen gland in my neck.  I was very tense from the problems with my daughter and I notice even now that I hold my jaw tensley and sometimes clench my teeth.   I believe that the stupid dental thing in my mouth injured the muscles/tendons in the tmj area and exacerbated any tension I already had in that area.  Now I have alot of the typical teeth clenching/tmj symptoms such as occassional ear pain, head and neck pain and tightness down that side of my head, neck, and back, AND I still have swollen glands in my neck on that side.  Has anyone else experienced swollen neck glands with TMJ and clenching?

Summarized question: Can an improperly used tool during a dental filling procedure cause teeth clenching, ear pain, head and neck pain, tightness down the side of the head, neck and back, and swollen glands in the neck?