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Cheyenne Advanced Dental Arts
L. Scott Brooksby, DDS, DICOI
Prosthodontist
8960 W. Cheyenne #190
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Today's column is meant to be cut out and kept for the time when you may have a toothache. We will discuss the most common types of toothaches and the ways to treat them. This is meant as a guide until you get an appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
There are three main causes of toothaches. Knowing which is which can save you a lot of grief and pain as well as money. The most common type of toothache is caused by bacteriaeating a hole into the center of the tooth. Once the bacteria get close to the nerve, it can cause sensitivity to hot, cold and sweets. Once it hits the nerve and starts infection progressing into the bone the real pain begins. The infection causes swelling of the tissues which makes the tooth rise up out of the socket slightly. The high tooth now hurts even more as you bite down causing more pain and pressure. This infection can break through the jaw bone and then spread through the soft tissues into the area around the neck and eventually close off the airway resulting in death.Obviously this is the most deadly type of toothache. The treatment of choice is to start on antibiotics and directly combat the infection and subsequent swelling. Since it takes two to three days for the antibiotics to reach the point of maximum effectiveness, waiting until you can no longer stand the pain is simply a guarantee that you are in for three more days of pain. Once the infection is under control, either the removal of the tooth or of the infection within the tooth with a root canal will eliminate the pain and the problem. On our website, http://lvimplant.com under the forms section you will find a list of instructions for this type of dental emergency. It is worth printing out and keeping available. The second most common type of toothache is caused by referred pain from the muscles of the head, neck and shoulders.This type of pain may mimic the first. Often if you go to a dentist and he checks and finds nothing wrong, this is the most probable culprit. This pain is a referred pain from traumatized muscles that can directly refer pain to individual teeth. The most common way to diagnose this is to put slight pressure on the muscles of the head, neck and shoulders. If you have an area that hurts when touched and more importantly causes pain in another area of the body you are dealing with referred pain. Treatment may require physical therapy by a therapist that specializes in this type of pain. It may also require the fabrication of an appliance that can be worn in the mouth to stabilize the muscles.The last type of toothache is often cause by biting trauma.The most common time for this to happen is after a recent filling or crown. It can also occur when you are under a lot of stress and irregularities in the bite become more problematic. If this occurs the easiest treatment is to grind the high part of the tooth down so that everything hits more evenly.Each of these types of toothache can be a major disruption in your life. We have the instructions for dental emergencies available under the forms section of http://lvimplant.com. If you have a problem do not wait until the pain is more than you can bear. Toothache pain is some of the worst pain and most pain pills do not even touch the pain if you let it get too bad. For more information on toothaches or other dental problems call Dr. Brooksby at or if you have questions you would like answered in this call you can e-mail Dr. Brooksby atIf you have questions you would like answered in this column email Dr. Brooksby at scott@lvimplant.com |