Dental question about taxonomy:symptom:tooth-pain
Tooth pain may arise from exposed dentin, decay, cracks, pulp inflammation, root infection, gum disease, or eruption pressure.
The short answer
Tooth pain can arise from exposed dentin, decay, a cracked tooth, inflamed pulp, infection around the root, gum disease, or pressure from a tooth that is not erupting normally.
What is the direct answer?
What does this question mean?
Pain is a symptom rather than a diagnosis. Cold, heat, sweets, chewing pressure, spontaneous throbbing, and lingering pain give clues about the tissues involved, but an examination and tests are needed to identify the cause.
What can you do next?
The dentist checks the tooth and gums, tests response to cold or tapping, examines the bite, and may take an X-ray. A crack, cavity, loose filling, exposed root, or inflamed pulp can require different treatment.
When should you seek dental care?
Rinse away trapped food, brush gently, avoid chewing on the painful side, and use a pharmacy pain medicine only as directed on its label and appropriate to your health history. Do not place chemicals or tablets directly on the gum.
What should you ask the dentist?
Seek prompt care for pain lasting more than a short episode, pain that wakes you, swelling, fever, pus, or a broken tooth. Emergency help is needed for breathing or swallowing difficulty.
Frequently asked questions
Ask which tooth is responsible and whether the pulp, ligament, gum, or surrounding bone is affected. Ask what treatment addresses the cause and what changes would make the problem urgent.
Can tooth pain disappear while the problem remains?
What happens at an assessment?
Seek prompt care for pain lasting more than a short episode, pain that wakes you, swelling, fever, pus, or a broken tooth.