Causes of toothache, Symptoms & Treatment

Tooth pain is the pain that manifests in and around your teeth and jaws. It is mostly due to a problem with your teeth – it could be due to a cavity, gum disease, injury, or due to any other dental issue.

Toothache – you may feel it differently or in many ways – it can be intermittent (come and go); sometimes – persistent (constant). In some cases, it can get bad when you lie down and improves when you get up. The pain can be mild, moderate, or severe and can become worse at night. Eating and drinking can also make your pain worse – especially when you eat or drink hot or cold food.

Symptoms of toothache

• Tooth pain can be dull, sharp, throbbing, or constant.
• Pain can become worse with activity – such as chewing
• The pain can increase the sensitivity of the affected tooth
• Swelling in and around the gums of the affected tooth
• Bleeding from the gums if an infection is present
• Changes in taste

What causes toothache?

Causes of toothache include:

• Dental cavities
• Gum infections
• Gingivitis
• Periodontal gum disease
• Biting on a hard surface
• Teeth grinding (Bruxism) and chewing gums
• A damaged filling
• Tooth fracture
• Abscessed tooth
• Tooth decay
• Wisdom tooth eruption

When should you consult a dentist for your toothache?

 If you experience any of the following signs and symptoms, you should see your dentist as soon as possible:

Severe and persistent toothache – which is making your life miserable

A toothache that lasts longer than one or two days.

If you have an earache, mouth pain, and fever.

If your toothache becomes worse when opening the mouth wide.

What happens during a dental examination?

When you see a dentist to determine the cause of your toothache, your dentist conducts a physical examination by obtaining your medical history and details of your symptoms. The doctor will ask a few questions – such as, how severe is the pain, when the pain started, how you feel when the pain manifests, where is the pain located, when you feel better, and when the pain gets worse; is the pain persistent – and so on. Furthermore, the dentist will also examine the gums, teeth, oral cavity, throat, tonsils, sinuses, nose, jaws, and neck. The dentist may order dental X-rays and other tests.

Treatment: It depends on the cause of the toothache. For severely infected dental cavities, root canal treatment is done to treat the infected tooth nerve. If the cause is gum disease or infection (periodontitis – a severe type of gum infection) the treatment may involve, deep gum cleaning, cutting and removing the infected bone between the teeth, and a course of antibiotics.

Bottom Line

Causes of toothache: You may have toothache due to many different causes. Proper identification of the cause and accurate diagnosis is very important to prevent the spread of tooth infection to other parts of the body – face, skull, and possibly to the bloodstream. Toothache can become persistent and severe if neglected. At Gnathos Dental Clinic, expert dentists diagnose and treat all types of toothaches.