3 Reasons Your Teeth Might Hurt
Poor dental hygiene can affect your overall health in various ways. For example, it can increase your heart disease, diabetes, and cancer risk. Not only that, but it can also lead to pregnancy and birth complications. That’s why proper oral hygiene is so important. Aside from brushing and flossing, you also want to visit the dentist every six months—especially if you’re experiencing symptoms. For example, do you have tooth pain? Wondering what might be causing it? If so, you’re at the right place.
We’ll review some of the most common tooth pain causes below. Then, keep reading to learn more!
1. Tooth Decay
Tooth decay is the most common cause of tooth pain; it occurs when bacteria in your mouth make acids that attack the enamel, the outer surface of your teeth. This results in tiny holes, which, if left untreated, can cause pain and sensitivity, among other symptoms.
As far as treatment goes, it depends on the severity. For example, mild decay is usually treated with a filling. Then, the dentist will use a drill to remove the decayed area and fill it with composite resin or another material.
For severe decay, a crown or root canal may be necessary.
2. Tooth Abscess
A tooth abscess is a pocket of pus that forms inside the teeth or gums. More often than not, it’s caused by a bacterial infection.
Common symptoms include:
- Throbbing pain that radiates to your ear, neck, or jaw
- Pain when biting or chewing
- Red, swollen gums
- Tender lymph nodes under your jaw or in your neck
- Fever
Schedule a consultation with your dentist right away if you think you have an abscess. They’ll make a small incision in the pocket and drain the pus, which will relieve the pain.
Depending on the severity, they may also need to perform a root canal or a tooth extraction.
3. Impacted Teeth
An impacted tooth is a tooth that hasn’t passed through the gum line. For instance, it may be positioned against another tooth or bone.
Wisdom teeth are one example. By the time they grow in (usually between the ages of 17 and 21), the jaw has stopped growing.
In other words, there won’t be enough space for them to come in normally. So, as a result, they almost always become impacted.
This can lead to various symptoms, including mouth pain, bad breath, and bleeding gums. In some cases, it can also lead to infection, which can spread to other parts of the mouth.
Understanding the Most Common Tooth Pain Causes
Now you can answer the question, ‘why do my teeth hurt?”. As you can see, there are various tooth pain causes, from cavities to impacted teeth. The good news is that they’re all treatable—you have to visit the dentist.
Did you find this post helpful? Looking for more health-related content like this? Then be sure to check out the rest of our blog for more articles!
Carla is a high performing marketing professional with 5+ years of experience driving growth of in a variety of corporate and entrepreneurial environments. Strong command of digital operations with exposure to influencer marketing strategy, branding, analytics, SEO/SEM, customer success, content development, and social media Core expertise lies in managing end-to-end campaigns, creating memorable content, and facilitating improved conversion rates to enhance e-commerce operations. Adept in ensuring alignment with organizational goals, facilitating streamlined operations, and leveraging a data driven strategy used to make insightful marketing decisions.
