Your tooth hurts… or does it? You feel pain for an hour or two, but it soon fades away. Then, once you’ve nearly forgotten about it, the pain comes back again, maybe lasting for an afternoon or perhaps a whole weekend.
Does this situation sound all too familiar? Intermittent tooth pain is more common than you might think. Its off-and-on nature does not mean you should ignore it. In fact, it’s important to act quickly when you begin experiencing periodic tooth pain.
Often, this kind of pain is a relatively early sign that something is wrong with your teeth or gums. By seeing a local dentist sooner rather than later, you can identify and address the problem before it – or the pain it causes – gets any worse. Intermittent pain can be among the signs of serious dental issues.
Here’s a look at the most common causes of intermittent tooth pain Orange City patients experience, and what your local dentist can do to treat them.
Gum Disease
Since it’s your tooth that hurts, not your gums, it may surprise you to learn that gum disease is a common cause of periodic dental pain. Gum disease can cause your gums to recede, exposing the more sensitive parts of your tooth that are meant to be covered with gum tissue. The nerves in this part of your tooth are closer to the surface, so they’re especially sensitive to heat, cold, and pressure.
Early signs of gum disease include redness, bleeding when flossing, and bad breath. These symptoms, at least in their early stages, are easy to overlook. And if you do overlook them, even for a few weeks, your gum tissue can become compromised to the point that it begins pulling away from the base of your teeth. This is generally when sensitivity starts. At first, you may notice it only when you bite into something really cold or take a sip of a hot drink. Before long, it can manifest as more persistent dental pain.
Gum disease that is causing intermittent dental pain often requires professional dental treatment. Your dentist may suggest a deep cleaning, which is done with a local anesthetic to allow for a more thorough cleaning below the gumline. Removing the tartar and oral bacteria from these surfaces helps to fight gum disease, which is essentially a bacterial infection of the gums. Your dentist may also prescribe a specialty mouthwash or topical antibiotics.
To keep the gum disease from coming back, you’ll need to be especially vigilant with your oral hygiene. That means brushing twice a day for a full two minutes, flossing daily, and using an antiseptic mouthwash.
Cavities
You may have heard that cavities are painless. That’s only true when they’re new and relatively small. A cavity, if left untreated, will eventually work its way into the deeper layers of your tooth where the nerve endings are located. At this point, it will start causing pain. At first, that pain tends to come and go, perhaps worsening after you eat something hot, cold, or especially crunchy.
A local dentist can check for cavities with an oral exam, plus x-rays to more closely examine the surfaces between your teeth. This is a very common place for cavities to occur, especially if you’re a bit lax on flossing. The good news is that filling a cavity is a rather routine procedure. Plus, today’s tooth-colored composite fillings ensure your smile will still look natural after the filling is complete.
Dental Abscesses
A dental abscess is basically an infection of the deeper, living tissues inside your tooth, known as the tooth pulp. An abscess can be the result of a large cavity that has been left untreated, but this isn’t always the case.
When your tooth pulp is infected, it and the surrounding tissues tend to swell, which puts pressure on your nerves. This pressure tends to come and go at first, which is one reason why the pain is intermittent. At this stage, it’s tough to tell the difference between sensitivity vs infection, which is why it’s best to err on the side of caution and see a dentist.
A dental abscess won’t go away on its own, and the symptoms can worsen quickly. There is potential for the infection to spread, at which point you may begin experiencing more serious bodily symptoms, such as a fever and chills. If you ever have an intermittent toothache accompanied by a fever, consider this a dental emergency and seek care ASAP.
An abscess without a fever is not an emergency, but it does require prompt treatment. Call your local dentist, and they’ll likely want to see you within the next couple of days. If an abscess is discovered, they’ll likely suggest a procedure called a root canal to remove the infected tooth pulp and stabilize the tooth. In more severe cases, the best approach may be to extract the tooth and replace it with an implant – though that’s not often necessary when you seek care at the first sign of pain.
Loose Filling or Crown
If you have a filling or a crown, intermittent pain around the dental restoration can mean it is loose or damaged. This can happen if the tooth material around the restoration develops decay. The older your restoration, the more likely this is to occur. It’s not uncommon for fillings or crowns that are more than 10 years old to eventually loosen and require replacement.
Your dentist will take a look at the restoration, perhaps take some X-rays to determine the condition of the surrounding tooth, and tell you whether it’s truly to blame for your pain. If your restoration does need to be replaced, this is usually a fairly straightforward process. With some local anesthetic, you won’t feel a thing, and your pain should ease immediately.
New Dental Work
Periodic dental pain can also be a normal side effect of recent dental work. If you just got a filling or had a crown put in place, some discomfort for a week or two isn’t necessarily anything to worry about. The process of inserting a filling or crown can irritate the gums and the nerves in your tooth, causing intermittent pain. Usually, this pain presents mostly as sensitivity to hot and cold, but it can vary between patients.
If you are concerned about your post-procedure discomfort, reach out to your local dentist and tell them about the symptoms you’re experiencing. They’ll probably ask you a few questions, and they may want to take a look at your mouth to ensure your pain doesn’t have a more sinister cause. But rest assured that mild, periodic pain after a dental treatment is fairly normal and will usually dissipate within a few weeks.
While periodic dental pain isn’t usually an emergency, it’s definitely not a symptom to ignore. If your tooth has been hurting on and off, contact Orange City Modern Dentistry to schedule a visit. We’re your local DeBary dental pain specialists, and we’ll have you feeling better in no time.