Toothaches can be very painful, not just in the teeth but also in the jaw and other parts of the mouth. In some cases, the pain can become unbearable when you lie down, so you should try to avoid it at all costs.
There are many things that can cause a toothache. As an example, one of the most common causes is a hole or hollow on the tooth’s enamel, which is the top layer.
If you don’t treat a cavity, it could get deeper into the tooth and reach the pulp or nerve. Gum disease, which is also called periodontal disease, can also cause a lot of pain in the teeth.
Gum disease can be brought on by bacteria that have been in the mouth for a long time. Even worse, if you don’t brush to get rid of the germs, they will form a film called plaque around the gums and teeth.
When plaque is left to harden, it turns into dental calculus, which is more commonly called tartar. Over time, tartar makes it harder to clean your teeth well.
When gum disease gets bad, a person may notice that their gums are red or swollen, they have bad breath all the time, they are losing teeth, and it hurts to bite.
Even though bad dental care is a common cause of toothaches, it is important to remember that not all toothaches start in the mouth. In fact, some toothaches are caused by things that have nothing to do with oral health.
Even if a person’s teeth are healthy, they may still feel pain in their mouth. Dentists call this kind of pain a “referred toothache.”
Because it still feels like a toothache, it can be very hard to figure out what is causing a toothache that isn’t caused by the teeth.
A toothache can cause pain that ranges from being mild and throbbing to being painful and hard to bear.
Toothaches, which are also called “referred pain,” can move from one side of the mouth to the other and from one tooth to another.
What’s spreading Tooth Pain?
A toothache that migrates from one portion of the mouth to another, such as from the upper jaw to the lower jaw, is known as migratory tooth pain.
Pain in migrating teeth can be caused by a number of different circumstances. Cavities, tooth abscesses, and non-dental issues like muscular discomfort and migraines are among the most common causes of tooth pain.
Cavities and Traveling Tooth Pain
When a person eats and then doesn’t brush their teeth for a long time, especially after eating high-sugar foods, they create a good environment for bacteria to grow.
The bacteria that live in your mouth break down these foods and turn them into acids. Plaque is a sticky film that forms when bacteria, acid, saliva, and food particles mix to make a film that stays on the teeth. This movie is called plaque.
Plaque can eat away at the enamel of your teeth, which can lead to holes in your teeth called cavities. Plaque can be removed by brushing and flossing your teeth regularly. If plaque hardens into tartar, however, only a dentist can get rid of it.
If a person has cavities, they might not feel any pain until the bacteria have moved far enough into the tooth to reach the nerve.
Cavities are caused by bacteria that can spread to nerves and blood vessels in the gums and pulp of the tooth.
When bacteria get into the pulp, it makes the pulp swell. When there is no more room inside the tooth to hold the swelling, the pain can spread from the root of the tooth to the bone, causing severe pain that spreads to other parts of the mouth. When there is no more room inside the tooth to hold the swelling, the pain can spread from the root of the tooth to the bone.
It is very important to make an appointment with a dentist if you are in a lot of pain. If you don’t take care of tooth decay right away, the cavity will keep growing and eventually affect the deeper parts of the tooth. As a result, the person may feel pain in other teeth or even in the jaw itself.
Tooth Abscess and Migrating Tooth Pain
Tooth abscess is a bacterial infection that happens when pus leaks out of a part of a tooth. This can make the whole tooth hurt.
An abscess in a tooth can be caused by a cavity that isn’t taken care of, an accident, or bad dental care.
When a dental abscess is on an upper tooth, the pain can spread to the lower jaw. This makes the person feel pain in a place other than where the infection that caused the abscess is.
Does toothache spread to other teeth?
If a cavity is not treated in a timely manner, it can spread into the deeper layers of a tooth, including the pulp and the nerve.
Although it is typically that tooth that is in discomfort, the pain may also spread to the teeth that are adjacent to it.
Can an Infection Move from One Tooth to Another?
Bacteria are constantly on the lookout for favorable environmental conditions in which to flourish. If the teeth around the affected tooth already have cavities, then the decay may spread to those teeth from the affected tooth.
Inadequate dental care combined with a diet that contains an excessive amount of foods high in sugar might foster the growth of bacteria. Because of this, an infection in one tooth can very readily spread to another tooth.
What are the Symptoms of a Spreading Tooth Infection?
There is a chance that an infection that started in your tooth could spread to your jaw, cheek, nose, or neck. Some of the signs and symptoms are:
- Pain in the tongue or mouth of the person
- The person has pain in their other teeth
- Pain in the mouth or tongue of the person if this happens; it means the infection has moved to other parts of the mouth.
Bacteria caused the decay, so when the infection spreads, the face, neck, and cheeks may start to swell.
When the infection spreads, it means that it has moved to other parts of the mouth. Also, the infection might make you feel sick, make you throw up, or give you a fever.
The best thing to do is to see a dentist as soon as possible, preferably before the infection starts to spread and makes the immune system weaker.
Most of the time, a dentist will tell a patient to take antibiotics to stop the infection from spreading.
If the infection gets worse, the patient may need to stay in the hospital and get antibiotics through an IV to stop it from spreading.
Final words
A radiating toothache can be caused by many different things, and it may even make you feel like you have more than one toothache.
The pain could have started in the tooth, or it could have started somewhere else in the body. Sometimes toothaches caused by things other than the teeth can feel a lot like real toothaches.
It is much easier to figure out what is wrong with a tooth that hurts in the mouth than with a pain in another part of the body. Most of the time, they move to the opposite side of the mouth from where they started.
Before assuming that a toothache is caused by an infection or cavities in the tooth, a person should see a dentist for an oral exam and consultation.