If you’ve gotten something stuck in your teeth or cracked a tooth, you won’t be a stranger to toothache. It can be mild or severe, but one thing’s for sure – the pain is not welcome!
Note: Contact your dentist if your toothache lasts over 2 days, does not go away with painkillers, causes your jaw to swell or you have fevers and chills.
What Toothaches Feel Like
Toothaches are different depending on the cause. They may be consistent or intermittent.
If you have a toothache you can feel:
- A sharp, jabbing pain when you bite down
- A dull, persisting ache
- Tenderness in and around the tooth
- Throbbing pain or swelling around your tooth and gum
- Tooth sensitivity
- A burning sensation or a shock-like pain (this is more uncommon)
Causes of Toothaches
Common reasons for toothaches
These are causes that a dentist will be able to assist you with:
- Tooth decay or cavities: It’s an infection near your tooth or the pulp in your tooth. It’s the most common cause of toothache.
- Abscess: When dental cavities go untreated, it could develop into an abscess.
- Cracked tooth: Germs and bacteria could make their way into the opening of a cracked tooth and cause pain and other severe problems.
- Damaged dental restorations: An impacted crown, filling, or dental implant could cause inflammation in your gums and teeth.
- Impacted tooth: When wisdom teeth are coming in they apply pressure to your jaw and teeth.
- Gum disease: Once the roots of your teeth are affected by the effects of gum disease, the pain will travel to your teeth.
- Teeth grinding: Grinding your teeth at night (or during the day due to stress) will tense your jaw and cause toothaches.
Other causes
Toothaches could be a sign of other issues.
One common example is Sinusitis. Your teeth are close to your sinuses, therefore when your sinus cavities become inflamed they push down and cause discomfort.
Treatment Options For A Toothache
The dentist is the best person to help you alleviate your toothache. They could use the following treatments:
- Medicine: Antibiotics and pain medication can help relieve the pain, but the underlying issue still needs to be resolved.
- Fillings: You may have a cavity that needs to be filled. The dentist will remove the damaged parts of your tooth and use a dental filling to fill the gap.
- Crowns: If the cavity is large or if you have a fracture in the tooth, the dentist will fit a cap, known as a dental crown, over the entire tooth.
- Root canal: If the cavity was not patched in time, the infection may have spread to the pulp. You’ll need a root canal.
- Extraction: If the tooth is too damaged to save, the dentist will remove the tooth entirely. You can replace it with a dental implant or bridge.
It may start as a minor pain, but if not treated in time it can develop into a serious problem. Don’t let the pain persist!
Need to relieve a toothache? Book an appointment and we’ll help put your pearly whites at ease!
