Toothache

Toothache is the pain that occurs in the jaw and facial areas usually caused due to irritation of the nerve of the tooth. Other reasons for tooth ache are tooth decay and losing tooth

The tooth consists of three parts:
Enamel – the hard outer shell of the tooth
Dentine – soft material that acts as support for enamel
Pulp – core of the tooth which has blood vessels and nerves

Tooth ache is the result of the pulp being infected. Inflammation of the pulp is knows as pulpitis and is cause usually due to decay of the tooth. Decay of the tooth is caused when the bacteria present in the mouth starts to break down the carbohydrates to form acid. If treatment is not given then the pulp of the tooth will be infected causing extreme pain.

Symptoms

Toothache is usually sudden in nature and the pain can increase exponentially in a short span of time. The pain may also spread to the head, ear and jaw and can be constant or intermittent in nature. Some of the symptoms of toothache are bleeding of the gums, too sensitive to hot or cold food items, experiencing pain while chewing, swelling of the gums and swelling of jaw.

Causes

Toothache can be due to the inflammation of the pulp, known as pulpitis. The different causes for pulpitis are decay of the tooth, dental cavities, tooth fracture, experiencing pain after a dental treatment, exposure of the root of the tooth due to moving back of the gums, exposure of the sensitive part of the tooth due to recession of the gums.

Diagnosis

It is advisable that one goes to the dentist as soon as possible if one is suffering from toothache. Toothache can be cured easily but it is important that the dentist knows what is causing the toothache before treatment. It is usually the case that the patient does not know which tooth is actually aching as the brain receives the wrong signals and it may so happen that the tooth affected maybe another tooth or maybe another jaw. The first thing the dentist would probably look for is damage of the tooth and swelling. Then the mouth is cleaned of all the food particles that may be stuck between the teeth and then tested for sensitive teeth. The dentist may also take an X-ray to see if there are any cracks on the tooth or jaw.

Treatment

Toothache, if left untreated, can cause severe infection and, eventually, blood poisoning. Some of the methods of treating toothache are if the toothache is due to decaying of the tooth then the dentist will use the method of filling the decayed part, if the previous filling has come out then the affected area is cleaned and a fresh filling is put, if it’s a case of pulpitis then root canalling is the remedy and If it’s a case of infection of the tooth then the dentist will recommend antibiotics.

If none of the aforementioned treatments are effective then the only way is to remove the tooth.