What are the typical causes of dental pain?
You should always contact your dentist as soon as you begin to experience any dental discomfort as untreated oral health concerns can lead to more serious issues. In most cases, a rigorous oral hygiene routine will prevent toothaches or discomfort. However, many potential factors can cause tooth or gum pain, including the following
Dental Decay
Cavities will develop slowly over time but can seemingly become painful fairly quickly. This should be taken care of as soon as possible to prevent an infection takes hold.
Tooth Injuries
You can also sustain tooth pain through the persistent grinding of your teeth as well as sudden injuries that you may experience, One example is sustaining a blow to the face while playing sports. Your dentist may recommend treating it with a filling, crown or bonding.
Grinding may also cause tooth sensitivity issues. Ask your dentist for tips on how to break this harmful habit.
Wisdom Teeth
When wisdom teeth become impacted, they often become quite painful due to the pressure they inflict on the surrounding teeth or infection. Impacted wisdom teeth can also lead to secondary issues including tooth damage and crowding if there isn’t enough space for them to erupt properly.
Dental Abscess
Bacterial infections may lead to pockets filled with pus. This not only creates painful sensitivity, but can also develop into a more serious, or even life-threatening, condition.
Gum (Periodontal) Disease
Gum disease (periodontal disease) can range from early stage (gingivitis) to moderate and severe. In the early stages, your dentist may treat your gingivitis with a procedure called scaling and root planing – the process of removing plaque buildup from the gum line.
For a more urgent case that’s progressed to severe gum disease, you may need a root canal, antibiotics, and/or surgery.
What are the other possible causes of dental issues?
Tooth sensitivity can occur even when there is no particular dental concern. Luckily this only happens occasionally and there are ways to minimize this discomfort.
Using toothpaste made for sensitive teeth may help. You should also attempt to avoid eating extremely hot or cold food and drinks until the sensitivity goes away.
If you notice ongoing sensitivity (for more than a couple of days), this may be cause for more serious concern, such as gum recession, and you should see your dentist.
There are also times the issue that’s causing your tooth pain may lie outside your mouth. Viral or sinus infections, vitamin deficiencies, headaches or colds may cause symptoms similar to what you might feel with a toothache.
However, it’s still worth it to schedule an appointment with your dentist as ignoring or misdiagnosing the pain yourself could lead to serious issues. Most dental pain won’t stop on its own and should be assessed by your dentist.
What can you do to relieve the tooth pain that you are experiencing?
Ideally, you will contact your dentist at the first sign of dental pain in order to provide a diagnosis and treatment before it becomes very serious.
In the meantime, there are a few home remedies for tooth pain you can try. Apply an ice pack or take an over-the-counter pain medication to reduce pain and inflammation. In some cases, a saltwater rinse can also help soothe and relieve tooth pain.