There’s nothing quite like a toothache, which can quickly become the center of your existence. Between the proximity to your brain and the sensitive nerves inside your mouth, a slight problem like a toothache can become a major quality-of-life issue in no time.

Whenever you’re in pain, and it stems from your oral health, the team here at Aura Dentistry, including Dr. Negar Tehrani, views the issue as a dental emergency. 

While a toothache may not be life-threatening, we don’t feel our patients should spend any time in pain. Besides, your toothache is trying to get your attention, so we suggest you heed the call.

Behind your toothache

There are many different roads to a toothache, and we’re going to focus on some of the more common ones that we see here at our practice, starting with:

Tooth decay

Did you know that 90% of adults in the United States have decay on their teeth, which includes nearly a quarter of kids between the ages of 2 and 5? In fact, the CDC calls dental caries the most common chronic condition in kids and adults. 

When you have tooth decay, bacteria eat away at your teeth, creating cavities. When they reach sensitive nerve roots, pain is very common.

Trauma to your tooth

Another culprit behind toothaches is trauma to your teeth that breaks, cracks, or chips the tooth. If there’s considerable pain and the tooth’s structural integrity is compromised, this is a dental emergency.

It’s even more of an emergency if the tooth has been knocked out — if you get to us quickly, we might be able to save the tooth.

Root canal infection

Each year in the US, about 15 million root canal procedures are performed to get rid of an infection inside a tooth. The pain associated with an infection in your root canal is hard to ignore, so we recommend seeing us as soon as possible so that we can clear the infection and preserve your tooth.

Impacted wisdom teeth

Another common cause of tooth pain is wisdom teeth that don’t erupt properly and become impacted. If we don’t extract the tooth, this can lead to abscesses and problems with surrounding teeth.

This list isn’t comprehensive, but you’ll notice that each issue can worsen exponentially without intervention.

More guidance for seeking emergency dental help

We outlined a few types of toothaches that we consider dental emergencies, but let’s review a few symptoms since you may not know what’s going on in your mouth.

You should consider a toothache an emergency if you are in a lot of pain that’s not responding to medications or is getting worse.

You should also see us if the pain lasts two days or more and if there’s swelling around your mouth or your affected tooth.

In truth, we’d rather you err on the side of caution and see us at the first signs of trouble. Early intervention for a toothache can often save you a lot of pain and dental work down the road.

To schedule your emergency dental visit with us, please contact our office in McLean, Virginia, at 703-429-0770 or use our online form to request a consultation.