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Sore teeth: what to do?

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
 
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"My teeth hurt: what should I do?" - this question is not just relevant, for people suffering from toothache, this is perhaps the only thought that fills the brain, especially when the pain is acute. Of course, toothache is a clear and unambiguous signal that the process of inflammation, destruction of the tooth or gum has already reached the extreme. If the pain has just begun, then many of us try to cope with it on our own. But when home remedies do not help, a visit to the dentist is the only way to get rid of excruciating pain. Toothache can be varied in subjective sensations and is caused by various reasons.

Causes tooth pain

Pulpitis is an acute inflammatory process, damage to the soft tissues of the tooth (nerve - vascular-nerve bundle). The causative agent is most often microorganisms from the coccal family - streptococci, staphylococci, which penetrate the pulp as a result of caries or tooth injury. According to the symptoms, pulpitis is characterized by very intense pain, which increases at night and spreads along the gum. Also, the tooth can hurt from a change in temperature (cold or too hot food, liquid).

Periodontitis is an inflammation of the tissues and membrane of the tooth root. The cause is almost always the same - chronic caries. Periodontitis manifests itself as increasing pain, which becomes very sharp and pulsating. The pain is often localized near the inflamed root, intensifies when eating, when the tooth is subjected to mechanical stress. Periodontitis is often accompanied by chills, increased body temperature.

Periodontitis is the dental problem of the century according to dental statistics, almost 100% of the population, regardless of nationality, class and age, suffer from one form of periodontitis or another. The periodontium - bone, gums, ligaments and mucous membrane - everything that holds the tooth in place, is infected with bacteria that are constantly present in the mouth. At first, the process of destruction is unnoticeable, since the mucous membranes are affected (gingivitis), then the inflammation spreads to the gums, and the tooth loses its stability, support. Gradually, specific "pockets" are formed between the tooth itself and the holding zone of the gum, where microbes continue to multiply in comfortable conditions, without access to oxygen, in a humid environment. Pathological destruction also reaches the bone of the tooth. The cause of periodontitis can be a general weakness of the immune system, caries, unsuccessful prosthetics, tooth trauma. In terms of symptoms, periodontitis is distinguished by its peculiar "insidiousness", since in the initial stage it does not manifest itself in any way. The first painful sensations begin to bother a person at the middle stage of the process development, and acute pain appears when the disease has already become chronic and affects several teeth, and sometimes the entire gum. The first symptoms that should alert a person are an unusual smell and some irritability, sensitivity of a tooth or several teeth to cold or hot exposure. Bleeding, tooth mobility - these are already signs of a developed periodontal process.

Tooth filling is a procedure that is often accompanied by short-term pain, which should go away in two or three days. If the pain does not subside, you should visit your dentist again to find out the cause of the persistent pain.

Pain after tooth extraction. This is a natural painful sensation, since this procedure inevitably injures the tissues near the operated tooth. The pain is temporary, transient, if the pain does not subside after 3-4 days, you need to seek help from a dentist - perhaps the nerve was not completely removed.

Pain under a prosthetic tooth, crown. Painful sensations after prosthetics are natural for several days. If the pain increases and does not go away within a week, you need to return to the doctor to find out the cause. Most often, pain around the tooth or under the crown itself can be caused by an incompletely cleaned canal during preparation for prosthetics. Often the root canal itself suffers during the procedure, its perforation is possible.

Pain caused by an underlying medical condition not related to dentistry:

This may be inflammation of the trigeminal nerve, which is responsible for sensations in the facial area in general and in the oral cavity in particular. The pain from such inflammation is very similar to toothache. Herpetic neuralgia (shingles) can also cause toothache. These painful sensations are not treated by dentists; you need to see a neurologist or your doctor, who will be able to differentiate the symptoms and make the correct diagnosis.

Sinusitis is often accompanied by toothache. Since the roots of the teeth are located in the upper jaw, any inflammation of the adjacent sinuses can radiate pain to the teeth. Painful sensations, as a rule, are aching, diffuse in nature, can be pulsating, pressing. Often the pain radiates to the area under the eye.

Angina is the most dangerous cause, as the underlying disease manifested by atypical symptoms can be fraught with a heart attack. The pain can partially manifest itself in the left arm, and then immediately move to the lower jaw area. If the teeth did not bother before such pain appeared, there are no dental diseases, when pain appears, localized in the back zone of the lower jaw, it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor. In this sense, it is better to immediately exclude cardiac pathology and play it safe.

Pain as a symptom of salivary stone disease. Inflammation of the salivary gland duct often manifests itself only in the acute stage. Typical symptoms of this disease are constant dryness, a feeling of irritation in the mouth. Often a person does not pay attention to these manifestations, the concrement in the gland continues to develop and clogs the duct. Then there is pain in the nearby tooth and slight swelling at the bottom of the jaw. The diagnosis is made by collecting anamnesis and X-ray.

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Forms

How toothache can manifest itself, its types:

  • Sharp, unbearable;
  • Periodic pain with pulsation;
  • Aching constant;
  • The pain is paroxysmal, increasing and decreasing (depending on the intake of cold or hot food);
  • Pain accompanied by swelling of the gums and bleeding.

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What do need to examine?

Treatment tooth pain

If the pain is acute, in the evening, when there is no opportunity to go to a dental clinic, you can take a painkiller - ketanov, ketalgin, ketorol. These are drugs from the NSAID group - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which have a fairly strong anesthetic effect. Such drugs are contraindicated in kidney and liver disease, they cannot be used by pregnant women, including women who are breastfeeding. These drugs will not cure the tooth, but will help to endure the pain until the morning, when a visit to the doctor becomes possible.

If taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is contraindicated, you can try other drugs and external methods, means:

  • Carefully brush your teeth with a special antiseptic paste (remove foreign particles and food debris).
  • Place a cotton swab soaked in the pharmacy drug "Dental drops" or "Denta" on the sore area. If there are no drops in the home medicine cabinet, you can soak a cotton swab in novocaine.
  • Take a paracetamol tablet.
  • Rinse your mouth with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or furacilin (dissolve 2 tablets in a glass of purified warm water).
  • If possible, rinse your mouth with herbal infusion, you can dilute 2 teaspoons of baking soda in a glass of warm water. Rinse as follows: take the solution in your mouth, tilt your head so that the liquid is on the side of the sore tooth, hold for 1-2 minutes.
  • It is not recommended, and often completely prohibited, to warm up a diseased tooth or gum. You cannot try to open an abscess on your own, etc.
  • It is advisable to visit the dentist immediately after first aid, without delaying the visit even if the pain has subsided.

Do your teeth hurt? What to do in each specific case?

If part of the face is swollen from the cheekbone side, and not just a pimple but a real fistula has appeared on the cheek, you need to go to the dental clinic as soon as possible. Such symptoms, accompanied by pain, indicate an inflammatory process that is turning into a purulent one. You cannot use compresses and lotions, it is better not to rinse your mouth and not to take pills on the day of the visit. All this will blur the picture of symptoms and may complicate an accurate diagnosis.

Teeth hurt all over the gum - this is a sign of not only damage to the inner part of the teeth, but also an inflammatory process in the gums. Before consulting a dentist, you can rinse the sore gum with a decoction of St. John's wort and chamomile (mix in equal proportions, brew 1 tablespoon with a glass of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes, cool to room temperature). You can also take a tablet of ketanov, preferably at night, when the pain intensifies. You cannot apply compresses of crushed garlic, cloves or acetylsalicylic acid to the gum - all this can aggravate irritation of the mucous membrane and increase inflammation. These recommendations apply to the first day, when the teeth hurt, the person does not know what to do. The next day, you should seek help from a doctor.

If you hear a characteristic crunch or click when eating, accompanied by aching pain, this may indicate pathological changes in the lower part of the jaw (in the joint). In addition to the fact that the joint hurts a lot, it can signal serious diseases such as meningitis, epilepsy. Therefore, if painful sensations when chewing are accompanied by clicks, a specific crunch, you should immediately contact a dental surgeon. First aid can be taking anesthetic drugs - analgin, paracetamol, you can rinse your mouth with a weak saline solution containing iodine (1 teaspoon per glass of warm water and a drop of iodine).

If the gums are inflamed, sore and bleeding, the first aid will be rinsing with a herbal decoction: 1 teaspoon of sage herb is brewed in a glass of boiling water for 20 minutes, the decoction is filtered, half a teaspoon of soda and a quarter teaspoon of salt are added to it. Then you need to visit the dentist, cure the cause of the inflammation and then use special toothpastes - Revidont Professional, Radonta, Lacalut Aktiv. Rinsing the oral cavity with Corsodyl, chlorhexidine also gives a good effect.

Teeth hurt, what to do if the tongue also hurts. The tongue can hurt if it is affected by small ulcers or cracks as a result of injury or due to a general disease of gastrointestinal etiology. Toothache is irradiating, so it is not the teeth that need to be treated, but the tongue. Rinsing with a decoction of chamomile and soda helps well - soda softens the mucous membrane, chamomile relieves the inflammatory process. It is necessary to visit not only a dentist, but also a therapist, gastroenterologist.

Toothache is accompanied by tooth mobility. Before visiting a dentist, you can take a tablet of spazmalgon, ibuprofen or ketanov, then rinse your mouth every hour with a solution of furacilin or a decoction of oak bark (1 teaspoon is brewed with a glass of boiling water, the decoction is infused for 30-40 minutes, cooled to a comfortable temperature). Oak bark has a binding, astringent effect, but the decoction is temporary help. Treatment should be prescribed by a doctor.

Teeth hurt, what to do if the pain does not subside after tooth extraction. Firstly, after the procedure, you cannot eat or drink hot liquids for 2-3 hours. Intense pain can be relieved with tablets - ketanov, ketalgin, ibuprofen. During the first day after the extraction, it is necessary to frequently rinse with a solution of soda and salt (dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt and soda in half a liter of boiled cooled water). Cold compresses can be applied to the cheek, changing them as they warm up (under no circumstances should they be heated). The pain can be relieved with a tampon soaked in dental drops, an elixir containing menthol. The tampon should be soaked in the solution (5-7 drops per half a glass of boiled water) and applied to the gum on the side of the extracted tooth. It is not recommended to moisten a tampon with undiluted drops, as their concentration is high and may cause a burn of the mucous membrane.

It is not recommended, and often completely prohibited, to warm up a diseased tooth or gum. You cannot try to open an abscess on your own, etc.

It is advisable to visit the dentist immediately after first aid, without delaying the visit even if the pain has subsided.

Teeth hurt - what to do? - this question will not arise if you carefully monitor the condition of the oral cavity, regularly visit the dentist even when toothache does not bother you. Prevention is the most accessible, effective and relatively inexpensive way to get rid of not only toothache, but also many other diseases.

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