Why Do My Teeth Hurt?
Painful teeth can have a significant impact on your health and wellbeing. Learn about the top causes of tooth pain from sensitivity and bruxism to gum disease and mobile teeth and find out how to stop tooth pain today.
Types of Tooth Pain & Their Solutions
Why are my teeth hurting? Hurting teeth has many potential causes. The following guide will help you to identify your type of tooth pain and give ideas on how to stop it. If you’re concerned about pain in your teeth, it is always best to speak to your dentist and potentially book in a check-up.
Sensitive Teeth
A study by the Oral Health Foundation suggests that 33% of people in the UK suffer from sensitive teeth.
Symptoms of Sensitive Teeth Pain
It is easy to spot if you have sensitive teeth as eating or drinking something hot or cold will cause a sharp pain across your teeth. This pain typically subsides after a few seconds, inflaming again when you take your next bite or sip. Sometimes a tooth hurts when biting down too.
Causes of Sensitive Tooth Pain
Teeth are made more sensitive by the erosion of your dental enamel. This exposes the nerves in your teeth, making them more sensitive to hot and cold sensations. A common cause of enamel erosion is the use of abrasive toothpastes and dental treatments such as whitening toothpaste. This makes your teeth whiter by wearing down the enamel of your tooth. Teeth whitening rinses, strips and dental treatments can also make your teeth sensitive for the same reason. This sensitivity is typically short-lived, lasting a few days before subsiding only to flare up again when these procedures are repeated.
Fixing Sensitive Tooth Pain
Sick of your tooth's ongoing ache? Tooth pain can be first addressed by stopping doing whatever is causing your sensitivity.
- Try brushing with sensitive toothpaste
- Use a fluoride mouthwash to improve the enamel on your teeth
- Ask your dentist about fluoride treatments to strengthen your enamel
Missing Broken or Decaying Teeth
Chips, cracks and cavities can all cause pain.
Symptoms Of Damaged Tooth Pain
The pain associated with damaged teeth is typically localised around the affected tooth but can spread to adjacent teeth. This type of pain can be triggered by pressure on the tooth caused when biting down. You may hear a gritty, crunching sound as you bite.
Causes Of Damaged Tooth Pain
There are many ways a tooth can be damaged from extreme heat or cold cracking a tooth, chips caused by biting down on hard foods, cavities caused by bacteria build-up and lack of dental hygiene.
Fixing Broken Teeth
- Fix chips and cracks with composite bonding that builds up the missing part of your tooth
- Fix cavities with fillings or dental crowns if the tooth is sufficiently damaged
Bruxism or Clenching Teeth
Clenching your jaw when stressed or while sleeping can cause ongoing pain in your jaw.
Symptoms of Bruxism Pain
The main symptom that you are suffering from bruxism is an aching pain that extends across your jaw. Teeth may also become worn due to grinding.
Causes of Bruxism Pain
Bruxism is typically caused by stress, making your jaw muscle tense and causing you to grind your teeth.
Fixing Bruxism Pain
In the short term you can use a rubber retainer to prevent further wear on your teeth. This can be worn during the day or at nighttime depending on when your bruxism manifests. Longer term you should aim to resolve issues causing your underlying stress or focus on relaxation techniques to help you feel less tense.
Exposed Root
An exposed root is usually identified as your teeth appearing longer and more pronounced arches where your gums meet your teeth.
Symptoms Of Tooth Root Pain
With an exposed tooth root, you can experience pain when brushing your teeth, have bleeding gums and feel that your tooth is becoming loose.
Causes Of Exposed Tooth Root Pain
There are many causes of an exposed root including:
- Gum disease causing receding gums
- Brushing too hard
- A natural result of ageing
- Smoking
- Damage caused by surgery, dentures or genetics
Fixing Exposed Tooth Root Pain
Depending on the cause of your issues, tooth root pain may require several different types of treatment.
- Any tooth decay should be filled
- Gum disease should be treated by your dental hygienist
- You may need a root canal treatment
- Your dentist can use sealant to treat the exposed root
- You may require a gum graft to rebuild your gum
Sinus Infection
It is not uncommon for a sinus infection to make your gums and teeth hurt.
Symptoms Of Sinus Pain
Your sinuses are located close to your upper jaw. An infection can cause pain to appear to be originating from your upper teeth.
Causes of Sinus Pain
A sinus infection is typically caused by a virus.
Fixing Sinus Pain
Sinus pain naturally disappears after a week as your body fights the infection by its self. If your pain continues for more than seven days you may need antibiotics to fight the infection. Please speak to your doctor to discuss treatment.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is known to result in several conditions that can cause pain.
Symptoms Of Pregnancy Tooth Pain
During pregnancy the enamel on your teeth can be thinned causing sensitivity, teeth can become brittle resulting in chips or cracks, and your gums can become painful.
Causes Of Pregnancy Tooth Pain
Your body chemistry changes during pregnancy, creating more acidic saliva and increasing blood flow to your gums which can cause issues and pain.
Fixing Pregnancy Tooth Pain
Speak to your dentist and find out about how you can change your oral hygiene routine to combat excessive acid caused by morning sickness. Ensure you thoroughly brush your teeth twice a day using a soft toothbrush and a fluoride toothpaste, floss between teeth and rinse with water. Any damage to your teeth should be addressed quickly. Treatments such as composite bonding can help rebuild teeth, fixing chips and cracks to give you a perfect smile again. For excessive damage you should consider crowns to replace severely damaged teeth.
Jaw Pain
Issues with your jaw can often manifest as pain in your teeth.
Symptoms of Jaw Pain
Jaw pain can be felt as both a dull ache and as a sharp pain depending on the underlying condition. This pain can feel like an issue with your teeth, affecting your gums and back teeth.
Causes Of Jaw Pain
The most common causes of jaw pain is arthritis or damage to your jaw. Arthritis causes inflammation, putting pressure on your jaw muscles, tendons and nerves which can create aching and shooting pains across your teeth and gums. Similarly, damage to your jaw can cause pain across your teeth.
Fixing Jaw Pain
If your jaw hurts from tooth pain, speak to your doctor about treatment. They may prescribe anti-inflammatory medications, painkillers or suggest surgery to fix any damage.