Main reasons
Pain is a kind of “alarm” from the body, drawing attention to malfunctions in its functioning. The oral cavity is no exception: if a seemingly healthy tooth hurts when pressed, this indicates that something has happened to it. As a rule, the reason is damage to the crown, root, gums, or the presence of an inflammatory process. But provoking factors can be very diverse: injuries, infections, insufficient hygiene and even medical errors. Let's look at each case in more detail.
The tooth hurts when you press on it: after depulpation (nerve removal)
The pulp is nerve fibers and vessels that provide sensitivity and nutrition to the tooth. After their removal, the tooth is considered dead, and it may seem that this is the solution to any problem, because a dead tooth is unlikely to hurt. This is wrong. A pulpless tooth can be disturbing for several reasons:
- if the dentist, while cleaning the canals, punctured the root;
- when the thin end of the endoscopic instrument breaks off and remains inside the canal;
- in case the dental canals have not been completely cleaned and an infection remains in them.
In the first two cases, the pain is quite sharp: the pulpless tooth hurts not only when pressed, but even when touched lightly. If the dentist cleans the canals poorly, pain appears after some time. In any case, a tooth without a nerve that causes discomfort is a reason for a repeat visit to the dental office.
Tooth hurts when pressed after filling
Slight pain after the doctor has given a filling to the patient is normal: during the sanitization of cavities affected by caries, the tissues receive microtrauma. The condition is easily treated with analgesics and goes away on its own in 2-3 days. But if a filled tooth hurts when pressed hard enough, then the problem is one of five reasons:
- high filling - the occlusion is disrupted, the tooth experiences excessive pressure and becomes painful;
- the dental pulp was burned when the filling was treated with a photopolymer lamp;
- a gap has appeared between the filling and the enamel, into which bacteria and food particles have entered, causing inflammation;
- the cavities affected by caries were not drilled out thoroughly enough, and it reappeared;
- I developed an allergy to the filling.
If the tooth under the filling hurts when pressed, this means that you need to make an appointment with the doctor again and have it filled again.
If your tooth hurts when you bite
Most often, it is not possible to catch caries in the stain stage, when it has affected only the top layer of dentin. Because once caries appears, it develops rapidly, quickly penetrating into the dentin of the tooth. And the deeper the caries penetrates into the dentin, the more serious intervention is required during treatment.
If a tooth hurts when biting after a filling, this may be a short-term reaction to the deep preparation. In this case, the pain should go away within two weeks.
In the image of the tooth, you can see that the dentin is directly adjacent to the pulp. The pulp is the very place where pain originates, even with the slightest impact. Therefore, pain when biting can occur when the filling is not polished sufficiently. In this case, when you bite, with another tooth you put pressure on the filling that is too high in the bite, and the filling, in turn, physically affects the pulp, and then the tooth hurts under the filling.
Many people think that they can wait a few days and the filling will wear itself out. This is not true; a filling that is too high in bite size injures the surrounding tooth tissue, which may lead to the need to re-treat the tooth, and possibly even to removal. And why endure this unexpected sharp pain if you can ask your dentist to further polish the filling? This is an absolutely painless and quick procedure.
Also, pain in the tooth after filling when biting may indicate inflammation of the surrounding tooth tissue. If you do not feel the filling, but the pain becomes more frequent and stronger, then you need to contact your doctor to determine the exact cause.
If the pain bothers you for more than two weeks or becomes unbearable, you should immediately contact your doctor.
It may be necessary to place a filling on the tooth using a different material to reinstall it. The dentist may decide to place medication and a temporary filling.
The treated tooth hurts when pressed after canal filling
Working with roots requires precision and accuracy from the doctor. If he incorrectly assessed the depth of the canals, then the following complications cannot be excluded:
- a tooth without a nerve hurts when pressed if the filling material extends beyond the apex of the root, gets into the gum and puts pressure on it;
- when the channels, on the contrary, are not completely filled, inflammation may begin in the voids over time. If a lot of time has passed after visiting the doctor, and the tooth aches and hurts, then the problem is the unsatisfactory filling of the canals.
The tooth under the crown hurts when pressed
Crowns and bridges can also cause many unpleasant moments for their owner. Normally, you may feel discomfort under the crown for several days after installation, but as you adapt, the pain gradually goes away. If a month later the tooth still aches a lot and hurts when pressed, and also if the pain under the crown appears suddenly, this is a reason to consult a doctor.
There are four main reasons:
- the crown became loose, food particles and plaque accumulated under it, and inflammation began;
- the crown is cracked or split;
- the tooth is poorly ground under the crown;
- The shape of the crown is chosen incorrectly; it puts pressure on neighboring teeth or gums.
Toothache when biting due to an “inflated” filling
When treating deep caries, the tooth is restored using a fairly large filling.
Recreating the exact geometry of a tooth is not an easy task. Sometimes it happens that the filling is slightly higher than the required level and interferes with the correct bite.
Opposing antagonist teeth put more pressure on the filling than on the surrounding teeth. This may cause pain after filling. Dentists call this case pain when biting.
Why does a tooth hurt after installing an “inflated” filling?
When caries is very deep, the wall between the filling and the nerve of the tooth remains very thin. Excessive pressure when closing the jaws through a thin septum puts mechanical pressure on the nerve of the tooth and the person feels pain.
What to do if it hurts when you press on a tooth with a filling?
If the toothache does not go away after filling, you feel some discomfort when closing your teeth, you should immediately contact your dentist.
Most likely you can easily be helped. It is enough to properly grind the installed filling and check that there are no painful or unpleasant sensations when chewing and connecting teeth.
What happens if you don’t see a doctor in time?
Delaying the correction of an over-inflated filling can lead to traumatic pulpitis. Excessive mechanical stress on the nerve leads to inflammation and ultimately, you can lose the tooth.
A healthy tooth hurts when pressed
What should you do if, when pressed, a tooth that has not been sanitized, depulped, drilled or loaded with a crown hurts? Yes, this happens too. Here are a few reasons why a seemingly healthy tooth can be painful.
- Periodontitis. This is an inflammatory disease of the tissues around the teeth. When pressed, both the gums and the tooth hurt at the same time. If no action is taken, progressive periodontitis will lead to a reduction in the volume of the gums and even bone, and then the tooth will become loose and may fall out.
- Excessive enamel sensitivity. It is provoked by chemical teeth whitening, after which even a tooth with a nerve can ache when biting or drinking cold and hot drinks. Teeth with filled canals do not have this problem. You can make your enamel less sensitive at home by using remineralizing gels and toothpastes.
- Removal of a tooth. After surgery, the adjacent healthy tooth may hurt. This is due to damage to soft tissues and does not require any additional therapy other than that prescribed by the doctor.
Tooth hurts after filling
If your tooth hurts after a filling for just a few days, then don’t panic! Provided that the pain is not severe, does not arise on its own, but from external factors (during meals, as a reaction to hot/cold), such pain can last up to two weeks. This depends on the individual tissue’s ability to regenerate after the intervention.
The most common reasons that are responsible for toothache after filling:
- Traumatic pain (overheating of the tooth): When preparing a tooth for filling, there is a chance that the tooth's pulp may experience a sudden shock, and this may be the reason why the tooth hurts after filling. If such toothache persists, then, most likely, you will have to treat the root canals.
- Referred pain: The nerves of nearby teeth may carry signals from the nerves of the filled tooth. That is, teeth that were not involved in the treatment process may also hurt.
Misdiagnosis: If there is no correct diagnosis, then there is no correct treatment. This most often happens when the doctor neglects radiography. But there are also borderline cases when the doctor, trying to preserve your tooth as much as possible, uses the least invasive (traumatic) treatment. Sometimes it is worth it, but the result of treatment is not guaranteed (the patient is usually warned about this).
Each person is unique, and the body's response to treatment is always individual. Pain is a normal reaction to external intervention, although we try to minimize it.
What should you do if your tooth hurts when you press it?
Pain almost always accompanies the rehabilitation period after dental surgery. If the patient follows the doctor’s recommendations, the discomfort disappears on its own after 2-4 days, however, in some cases, pain can signal complications. The patient should return for a follow-up appointment if:
- immediately after the anesthesia wears off, severe and sharp pain appears;
- More than a week has passed after treatment, but the toothache does not go away;
- The rehabilitation period went well, but after 1-3 months pain appeared again.
The most important thing is not to endure, but to figure out where the pain comes from.
Why does my tooth hurt during or after eating?
Probably every person knows what toothache is. Even those who carefully observe oral hygiene encounter it. As a rule, many people have toothache after eating, even if there are no external signs of disease of the teeth and gums. There are many reasons for toothache while eating. Among them are microcracks in the enamel, which the patient himself is not able to detect. When the enamel is cracked, the tooth usually hurts from hot and cold things: food, drinks, air, even cigarette smoke. Cracks in teeth occur due to mechanical or chemical trauma to tooth enamel: the habit of gnawing hard objects, nails, abuse of acidic foods and drinks. If your teeth hurt from sweets, perhaps this is initial caries, when outwardly the teeth are healthy and snow-white, but somewhere, for example, in the interdental space there is a slight darkening, which only a dentist can detect. Hidden caries can also appear when dentin is damaged despite the apparent integrity of the tooth enamel. Typically, toothache due to caries quickly goes away when the irritant is removed. If the pain does not go away, then we can talk about a complication of caries - pulpitis. Exposed tooth necks are a common cause of toothache when eating. Tooth root exposure is a common cause of tooth sensitivity. Exposing the neck and root of the tooth can also cause toothache when eating. With this pathology, a tooth hurts when eating sour or sweet foods, as well as when brushing your teeth. Exposing the neck and root of the tooth also causes pain when exposed to cold. In older people, exposure of the neck of the tooth can occur without pain. How to soothe toothache after eating? If you feel sharp pain while eating, rinse your mouth with clean, warm water. You can use a rinse for sensitive teeth, sage infusion. This should soothe the sharp pain. If necessary, take a pain reliever. And try to see a dentist as soon as possible. Only a doctor can determine the cause of pain when eating and drinking and solve this problem. Depending on the cause of the toothache - enamel cracks, exposure of the neck of the tooth, hidden caries - you will be prescribed appropriate treatment. You should not delay your visit to the doctor, taking analgesics, trying to relieve the aching tooth from stress and food ingress. Any pain, including toothache, is a signal of a disease; the sooner treatment is started, the greater the chances of successfully getting rid of it and pain. You can make an appointment with us by calling: 51-00-10, 8(906)-383-50-10 (Cheboksary, Proletarskaya St., 16/2) 39-61-04, 8(937)-014-55 -65 (Cheboksary, Socialist St., 2) Consultation is free!
