Why toothaches hurt

That means the pain is caused by a problem elsewhere in your body. You should never ignore toothaches. Toothaches caused by tooth decay can get worse if left untreated. Toothaches are usually not life-threatening, but in some cases, they can be signs of serious conditions that require immediate medical treatment. Tooth decay is the most common reason for toothaches. If tooth decay goes untreated, an abscess can develop. This is an infection near your tooth or in the pulp inside your tooth.

See your dentist right away if you think you have a dental abscess. In rare cases, the infection can spread to your brain, which can be life-threatening. A toothache can also be caused by an impacted tooth. This happens when one of your teeth, usually a wisdom tooth , is stuck in your gum tissue or bone. Sinusitis is a condition in which your sinuses become inflamed due to a viral, bacterial, or fungal infection in your sinus cavity.

Because the roots of your upper teeth are close to your sinuses, sinusitis can cause pain in your upper teeth. Heart disease and lung cancer can also cause toothaches. In some cases, toothache may be a warning sign of a heart attack. Heart and lung disease can cause toothache pain due to the location of your vagus nerve.

This nerve runs from your brain to the different organs in your body, including your heart and lungs. It passes through your jaw. Many people wonder why toothache is so sore. Along with the pain, you may also be dealing with sensitive teeth and difficulty with eating and drinking. A lot of tooth pain is caused by inflammation in the pulp or inside part of the tooth.

The pulp of each tooth contains lots of nerve endings that are highly sensitive to pain. This can cause the often constant throbbing pain that makes toothache especially unbearable. Toothaches can be caused by something happening to your teeth or gums. They also can be caused by pain in other parts of your body. Common causes of toothaches include:. Toothache stimulates your dental nerves to an intense degree and this contributes to why it can be more severe at night.

This nerve stimulation activates your brain and can keep you awake. And sometimes the anxiety from staying awake can disrupt your sleep even more. In some cases what you eat for dinner might aggravate a painful tooth. Food that is very hot, cold, sugary, acidic or starchy can quickly make an underlying toothache issue worse. Sometimes toothache gets worse when you lie down because blood rushes to your head, which then puts extra pressure on the already sensitive areas in your mouth.

Treating a toothache at home usually involves pain management. Salt water rinses are one of the first ways your doctor may recommend you treat a toothache at home.

Rinse with this solution times daily to reduce inflammation and contract the tissues. This rinse is especially effective with gum pain and foreign body response to something like a poppy seed stuck in between the gums.

Clove is an essential oil that may provide pain relief as strong as benzocaine Orajel. Although eugenol occurs in nature, synthetic versions carry some safety concerns. Clove oil also has antibacterial properties, which means it can kill beneficial bacteria in the mouth and cause an imbalance in the oral microbiome. For this reason, it is not recommended using this remedy for more than a couple of days. To use clove oil to treat a toothache, apply a very small amount to a cotton swab or piece of tissue and apply gently to the affected area.

This works well if there is an exposed nerve due to a deep cavity. The infection is caught inside the tooth and bone, causing a very large pressure. This is the reason for the intense toothache. The pus filled balloon continues to expand in the bone which is extremely painful until it breaks through the outer wall of the bone. At this stage you may notice a bubble on your gum or very rarely the abscess can even appear through the skin on your chin.

When the abscess bursts through the gum, the pressure is released and many people feel an instant relief from the toothache. However the cause of the infection is still present and needs treated even after the pain has subsided.