Experiencing Tooth Pain? Here’s What You Need to Know

Experiencing Tooth Pain? Here’s What You Need to Know

It’s recommended that we visit our dentist at least twice a year for a full check-up and a hygiene session to clean our teeth. Unfortunately, a lot of people ignore this rule for a number of different reasons. They might not understand what to look for to determine if they need help, they might ignore issues like pain in their gums or teeth, and they might overlook the importance of dental care until it’s too late.

Unless you’ve been taught about dental care from an early stage in your life, you’ll likely have many dental-related questions that are still unanswered. For example, you might be unsure if you need braces as an adult and you might have questions about your receding gums and how to stop it.

Tooth pain is arguably one of the most common issues that people face when it comes to dental issues. Tooth pain can happen for a number of different reasons and it can lead to many different complications if left untreated. So in this post, we’re going to talk about what tooth pain is, how to deal with it and how to prevent it from happening in the future.

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/Dqrlp6cMLkE (CC0)

What is Tooth Pain?

Tooth pain is described as pain you experience in or around the teeth. It can also affect your jaw and it can either come and go in a few seconds or could persist for weeks. There are different types of tooth pain and we’re going to explain each one:

• Short painful aches in one or several teeth are usually felt in response to something such as eating something hot, cold or making chewing motions with your mouth. This is usually caused by a crack in your teeth or a cavity.
• Pain felt when eating usually points to tooth decay. This is something that must be dealt with by your dentist as they need to examine the extent of the decay and the right methods to fix the affected teeth.
• Sharp pains in a single tooth usually mean that it’s a cavity in a tooth, especially if you can replicate the pain by biting on something hot or cold.
• Prolonged mild pain in the mouth usually indicates some form of nerve damage in your teeth especially if it’s not triggered by something such as eating hot or cold foods. It’s one of the most common forms of toothaches and can usually be relieved temporarily with painkillers, but will still need treatment from a dentist.
• Extreme and debilitating pain is a cause for concern especially if it happens after another accident. This usually indicates a forceful cracking of a tooth or a fracture.
• Jaw-related pain typically relates to your wisdom tooth. It can feel painful on some days and almost noticeable on other days. Whatever the case is, make sure you get your teeth examined by your dentist if your jaw is hurting in addition to your teeth.

This isn’t a comprehensive list of tooth pain and the causes are mostly generalisations. Regardless, it’s still important to try and identify the type of tooth pain you’re experiencing as it could help you find the cause (and a solution) much faster.

Dealing With Tooth Pain

Nobody wants to deal with a toothache for long but it’s important to use the right countermeasures in order to cope with it. Most people don’t see it as a necessity to visit their dentist for tooth pain, especially if painkillers are working to overcome it. Unfortunately, prolonging an inevitable visit to your dentist is no good and it’s vital that you learn how to respond to a toothache so that you can overcome the issue quickly.

If you’re only experiencing some mild pain that comes and goes then you likely don’t need to rush to see a dentist. We still suggest booking an appointment to get yourself checked, especially if you haven’t been in a while, but there’s no need to rush if it’s not causing trouble in your everyday life.

However, if the pain is incredibly bad and prevents you from working your job or enjoying your day, then it’s best to see immediate attention from a dentist. You may need to look around for a dentist that offers emergency appointments, such as visiting rickoffdentistry.com/dental-services or looking for a dental practice that is outside of your insurance’s coverage. While there are many dental practices around, finding one that offers emergency services can be difficult.

As a temporary solution, you may find relief in taking painkillers. This isn’t very effective on certain types of tooth pain, such as your wisdom teeth causing pain to your jaw or nerve damage. However, it’s worth trying if you’re looking for temporary relief. Just remember that you can’t rely on painkillers to manage your tooth pain and you will eventually need to visit a dentist.

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/4YZyBNA1UeA (CC0)

Preventing Tooth Pain

Preventing tooth pain generally comes down to better dental hygiene habits. So to round off the article, we’re going to list a few of the most important habits to pick up if you want to avoid tooth pain in the future.

• Brush at least twice a day. This is mentioned everywhere but it’s still incredibly important and should be one of your top priorities.
• Floss. It can be difficult for some people to get accustomed to the hand motions of flossing, but it’s extremely important to help clean the areas between your teeth where brushing can’t reach.
• Use an to rinse your teeth, making sure not to do it immediately after brushing. Instead, you should consider using it after meals with some light brushing to get rid of food debris and bacteria.
• Visit a dentist at least twice a year for a regular checkup. If you’ve not seen a dentist in years, then it’s worth visiting at least once every two to three months to clear up your dental issues and also monitor your progress.

Hopefully, this article has shed some light on the tooth pain you might be experiencing and given you some helpful advice on how to react when you do experience tooth pain.

DISCLAIMER: This post is a collaborative post and may contain affiliate links.