Could dental work cause trigeminal neuralgia?

Yes!: Especially in someone over the age of 50. If you are having sudden unprovoked severe stabbing pain, see a physician for treatment.

Not usually: Newer leading research indicates that it is an enlarged blood vessel - possibly the superior cerebellar artery - compressing or throbbing against the microvasculature of the trigeminal nerve near its connection with the pons. Such a compression can injure the nerve's protective myelin sheath and cause erratic and hyperactive functioning of the nerve.

Not vascular: Vascular theory is anything but new. It was introduced by janetta pj in 1967 . It doesn't explain triggering, amplification and stop mechanism. I had trigeminal neuralgia, and it wasn't vascular and in fact vascular neuralgia is extremely rare in anyone under 50. So given jayharo5's age and inciting trigger, vascular is not a likely etiology.

NO: Obviously, within the mouth, there are branches of the trigeminal nerve, besides other cranial nerves, but dental procedures have never caused true trigeminal neuralgia, which is a problem within the brainstem and/or lower intracranial cavity, not the mouth.