We’re not talking post-holiday “I can’t eat another bite” discomfort. No, we’re here to talk about the discomfort caused by bite pain.
Usually, our teeth and jaws work so harmoniously that we don’t even think about biting and chewing. But when a sharp jolt or a dull ache accompanies any sort of pressure on your tooth, it’s time to call your dentist, who may then refer you to Central New England Endodontics and Implantology. Let’s look at a few of the possible causes.
- Tooth Decay
When a cavity reaches below the enamel and into the dentin, the middle part of the tooth, you might feel discomfort and sensitivity. If a cavity reaches the inner pulp, which contains the tooth’s blood supply and nerves, it’s not only very painful, it can lead to a serious infection called an abscess.
Root canal treatment can help save a tooth when decay has reached the pulp, but prevention is always the best option! Good dental hygiene, regular checkups, and prompt treatment of small cavities will help prevent deep cavities from forming.
- Damaged Dental Filling
A loose or damaged filling can be uncomfortable. Even worse, bacteria can get under a damaged filling where your toothbrush and floss can’t reach, causing decay which can eventually reach the pulp if undetected.
During your regular checkups, your dentist will look for any signs of decay around and under your fillings, and will find any fillings that need replacing. If you notice a loose filling, or suffer discomfort when you bite down on a filling, don’t wait until your next checkup to see your dentist.
- Bruxism (Tooth Grinding)
Your jaws can provide more than 20 pounds of pressure to your teeth when you need to chew food. When you grind your teeth, your jaws can produce hundreds of pounds of pressure on your teeth all night long. It’s no wonder you wake up with tooth or jaw pain. Over time, constant grinding will damage enamel and can chip and even crack teeth.
Your dentist can create a custom-made night guard which will protect your teeth from grinding pressure—relieving tooth and jaw pain, preventing more serious damage, and giving you a better night’s sleep!
- Cracked Tooth
A painful cracked tooth can be obvious after a trauma, or it might not be obvious at all. So whenever you suffer dental trauma, call your dentist immediately for instructions and any necessary referrals.
Cracks can spread over time, and speedy medical attention from an endodontist like Drs. Manzoli, Russo, Pauk, Desrosiers, Sahakyants might be the difference between a tooth which can be repaired and a tooth which must be extracted. An endodontist is a specialist in diagnosing and treating cracked teeth, and in saving injured teeth if possible with root canal treatment or endodontic surgery.
- Infection/Abscess
When the pulp inside a tooth is infected or inflamed, the result can be a painful abscess. Abscesses are pockets of pus caused by bacterial infection. Continuous severe pain, a swelling near your tooth, redness, fever, chills, a bad taste in your mouth, or bad breath can all be signs of a tooth abscess.
An abscess isn’t just painful, it’s dangerous, because it can cause bone loss around the tooth and further infection if not treated promptly. Root canal treatment is usually necessary to remove damaged pulp from the pulp chamber and from every tiny canal in each root of the tooth, and then to clean, shape, and fill the tooth’s interior. Your endodontist is a specialist in this procedure, as well as an expert in dealing with recurring infections and performing any necessary endodontic surgery to treat such infections.
Pain is an important signal that something is wrong, and you need to get to the root of the problem. Conditions that cause you pain often become more serious over time. For your comfort and your health, make an appointment at our Worcester endodontic office right away whenever you hesitate to take another bite.