When you experience sudden tooth pain, it can be frightening as well as painful. If you don’t know what is causing your tooth pain, you’re left to wonder if it is something that can wait until you make an appointment. However, if it’s a dental emergency, you should deal with it right away. While something like a knocked-out tooth is clearly an emergency, other causes of tooth pain can wait a few days until your dentist can give you a full appointment.
Is your tooth pain a dental emergency? Here are some of the common causes of sudden tooth pain to help you determine what’s happening.
Tooth Decay and Gum Disease
Common dental problems such as tooth decay and gum disease can lead to tooth pain if left untreated. When bacteria in the mouth eat away at the enamel of the tooth, it eventually leads to cavities. Cavities expose the nerves inside the teeth, causing pain when they come into contact with food or liquids. When gum disease progresses to the point where the roots of the teeth are exposed, the same thing can happen.
Dental Trauma
An injury to the mouth can cause dental trauma, including cracking or fracturing a tooth. Damage to the teeth exposes the sensitive inner layers, causing sudden pain, especially when biting or chewing. If you experience an injury to your face or mouth, your dentist should check your teeth for cracks or fractures. Often, dental trauma can lead to a dental emergency, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Tooth Sensitivity
If you have particularly sensitive teeth, you can experience pain when your teeth come into contact with certain foods or liquids. Very cold or very hot liquids are the most common culprits, but sweet or acidic foods can also cause pain to sensitive teeth.
Sinus Infection
Sometimes, pain perceived as toothache or sensitivity actually has nothing to do with your teeth. Pain in the upper back teeth can also be referred pain from a sinus infection. “Referred pain” is pain caused by an injury or problem in one area of your body that you feel somewhere else. This happens because all the nerves in your body are part of a single connected network, so pain signals are sometimes sent to an area other than the source.
