Pain stemming from your teeth can be debilitating enough to severely disrupt your daily schedule. Even if you find oral pain tolerable, you should not ignore this issue. It could be a symptom of a more serious dental problem that will require intervention from your dentist.
You might notice that oral discomfort can vary in severity, and these differences can point to different types of oral health concerns. Do not delay scheduling an urgent dental evaluation of your symptoms to diagnose the problem and find appropriate treatment. And read on to learn about three degrees of tooth pain you may experience and what they can mean for your oral health.
Tooth Sensitivity Pain
Have you ever felt a jolt of pain when you bite into a food item? This sharp but intermittent type of oral pain is known as tooth sensitivity. Though the feeling may go away when you remove the stimulus, like the food, it can feel excruciating in the moment.
This issue can develop when your enamel, the hard outermost layer of the tooth, weakens or sustains damage in some way. This can occur for a number of reasons, including consuming acidic substances or suffering tooth decay. Thinned enamel will expose underlying nerves in the tooth.
Then, when food or another stimulus touches the nerves, it triggers pain signals that cease with the removal of the stimulus. Enamel will not regenerate, so you need help from a dentist to relieve this type of tooth pain.
Treatment for tooth sensitivity depends on the cause of the symptom, such as a cavity. Dentists can treat decay to resolve tooth sensitivity, or they can replace weakened enamel with a dental crown, which can shield the exposed nerves from stimulation.
Dull Toothache
Do you feel a dull but constant ache in your tooth? This oral pain might not feel severe, so you may feel tempted to ignore this problem. But tooth pain of any kind can signify a serious oral health issue that will need dental attention.
Low-grade toothaches could happen for an acute reason, such as something stuck between your teeth. But chronic behaviors like bruxism could cause you to wake up with this type of toothache as well. Discuss your symptoms with your dentist to pinpoint the problem and receive appropriate dental treatment.
Throbbing Tooth Pain
An intense, throbbing pain in your tooth that feels deep or pulsing will majorly interrupt your day. Call your dentist as soon as you can about this symptom. This pain may develop due to an infection in the tooth pulp that may require root canal therapy to treat. The infection could spread and hurt the rest of your smile as well as your body without swift dental intervention.
Severe pain like this can also occur if you fracture a tooth. Impact trauma could cause a tooth to crack or chip, though you might not always see a visible injury after this tooth breakage. Contact your dentist right away if you suspect you suffered a tooth fracture because this injury could worsen quickly.