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How to Determine the Cause of Unknown Dental Pain: Three Potential Culprits

May 27, 2020

How to Determine the Cause of Unknown Dental Pain: Three Potential Culprits

Sometimes dental pain is obvious. In other cases, it can be a dull to strong consistent ache or pain that has no central location from which it is coming. If this happens, it can be frustrating not only to deal with the pain but to be unsure where it is coming from. Keep reading to learn about three potential culprits for this dental pain. You can also contact California Dental Group at (800) 407-0161 to find out more about how we can help relieve the pain for good.

  1. It May Be Your Gums
  2. If you have gum disease, it could be causing your gums to swell, to bleed, to recede, and, eventually, to separate from your teeth altogether. Infected gums are sensitive and can be very painful. If you find that your gums are starting to separate from your teeth, the roots can be exposed and eventually the nerves of your teeth could be damaged and infected. This can lead to severe localized or general tooth pain, an abscess, or an infection that requires a root canal.

  3. It May Be Your Teeth
  4. Of course, your teeth are the second thing that could be causing oral pain. There are two ways that teeth can generally cause pain: Via decay and via infection. Decay starts small and generally only results in minor, intermittent pain at first. It is progressive, which means that once the decay begins it will keep going until action is taken to stop it. The pain comes when the decay is eating away at your teeth and your nerves are exposed. This also often causes teeth to become sensitive to heat and/or cold.

    Decay and gum disease are both potential causes of infection, which can be painful if it happens at the root level. If your teeth are the cause or your pain, there is nothing to do but contact your dentist. Yes, you can brush and floss regularly but once decay or an infection has started, they will progress until your dentist takes care of the problem at the source.

  5. Your Dentist Can Give You a Direct Answer
  6. While looking for the sources of your tooth pain may be is a natural thing to want to do, the fact is that only your dentist can get to the bottom of both the cause of symptoms and the sources of them. If the cause is decay, we need to get involved. If the cause is gum disease, we need to get involved. Remember that the longer you wait to get help, the more expensive and painful treatment is likely to be.

Contact California Dental Group at (800) 407-0161 now to set up an appointment at one of our convenient California dental locations.

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