How to Tell If You Have a Cavity
You can identify some signs of a cavity yourself, but it is best to visit the dentist for a professional diagnosis.
Ultimately, the best way to tell if you have a cavity is to visit your dentist. Your dentist can not only diagnose the cavity or other dental problem that is causing you distress, but also recommend the appropriate treatment option to relieve that distress.
However, you might be looking for information about cavities that will help you figure out if you really need to visit the dentist for help, and how urgently you might need this help. If this is the case, ask yourself these questions:
Is the tooth painful?
Not all cavities are painful, but most of them are. When you have a cavity, the pain is being caused by the fact that the enamel has been damaged to the extent that stimuli such as heat, cold, or pressure can now pass through to the nerves inside the tooth.
Can you pinpoint the pain?
In the case of a cavity, the damage to the enamel has been caused by the action of tooth decay bacteria. However, there are other possible causes of enamel damage that will cause similar painful symptoms but are not properly classified as a cavity.
These sorts of problems will cause the pain to be localized differently than with a simple cavity. If your pain occurs when biting down on food, you could have a cavity. But if you simply clamp your teeth together and have pain, the problem might be that you have ground away your enamel due to improper tooth alignment or night grinding. If your pain is caused by receding gums, you should be able to see a fine line where the enamel ends and the now unprotected root begins, and if you suffer from sensitivity due to acid erosion, the pain is likely widespread, affecting multiple teeth.
Pain from a cavity, on the other hand, is likely to be localized to a single part of a single tooth.
Are there any spots on the tooth?
In some cases, you may actually be able to see a spot on your tooth where the cavity is. If the spot is white, the cavity is in its early stages and may not be painful yet. If the spot is brown, it is almost certainly a cavity. If the spot is black, it could be a cavity, but it could also already be in the process of remineralization, aka rebuilding the enamel.
If you like, you can take a toothpick and gently poke the spot. If the point of the toothpick seems to stick, the spot is a cavity.
Always Visit the Dentist Promptly for Tooth Pain
Even if you don’t think your pain is caused by a cavity, it is still wise to visit the dentist promptly. Your dentist can treat all kinds of tooth pain so there is no reason to live with painful or even merely sensitive teeth.
For a professional dental exam and evaluation of your tooth pain, please contact one of our clinic locations now.
