Symptoms Of Sinus Tooth Pain
A sinus infection begins as a normal cold most of the time but gradually turns into a severe condition. Some of the most prominent causes of sinusitis include fungal infections, allergies, and a sudden air pressure change. Having a weak immune system also makes a person more prone to sinus infection.
The signs and symptoms of sinusitis resemble those of nasal allergy or cold. A person may experience a runny nose, cough, or head congestion.
More of the symptoms of sinusitis are:
by Triangle Dentistry | Nov 5, 2020 | General Dentistry, Preventative Dentistry |
Sinus pressure causes pain in the strangest places like the teeth. Toothaches from sinus pressure can be scary and disruptive, especially if youre not aware of the cause of your tooth pain. Loss of sleep, pain when eating and difficulty concentrating are the kinds of problems that people experience when theyve got sinus pressure. Overall, sinus pressure can temporarily reduce your quality of life, and because sinus infections can be very difficult to treat, these problems can persist for weeks or even months.
Knowing the symptoms of inflamed sinus cavities and what can be done to relieve the pressure can help you get back your life, even at times of the year when sinuses tend to make trouble.
What This All Means
Basically, the fastest way to get pain relief is by opening up the abscess and the only one that can do that is your dentist! The relief comes from relieving the pressure in the abscess. Therefore all home remedies can only temporarily dull the pain but does nothing to stop it since they’re unable to drain the abscess.
Just so you know what to expect, even after getting pain relief from the tooth abscess by draining it, you still need to treat the source of the infection. The only way to get rid of an abscess is by extracting the tooth or getting a root canal. Otherwise the abscess may return a few days later because the source of the abscess will just reproduce the infection.
Old Or Damaged Filling
As fillings age, they may become weaker and susceptible to damage.
The filling material may decompose over time, or the filling can be damaged by normal chewing, biting something hard, or grinding your teeth. The filling may pop out, chip, crack, or crumble.
Treatment
Your dentist can replace lost or damaged fillings. If the tooth has been damaged excessively, a crown can be placed on the tooth to restore its standard form and function.
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Antibiotics For Tooth Infection: What You Should Know
Edmund Khoo, DDS, is board-certified in orthodontics and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics.
A tooth infection is a pocket of pus caused by the proliferation of bacteria. Usually, an abscess appears in the pulpthe soft, living tissue inside a tooth.
A periapical abscess develops from an infection in the pulp that forms an abscess at the root of a tooth, while a periodontal abscess develops between the tooth and the surrounding gum tissue.
Symptoms of a tooth infection may include a severe toothache, sensitivity to heat and cold, swollen glands, swelling in the gums, foul-smelling breath, and pain while chewing. If the infection spreads to the surrounding bones, it may become life-threatening.
Your dentist may prescribe antibiotics to clear up your tooth infection. Learn more about antibiotics for tooth infections, including why they are used and how fast they work.
Athima Tongloom / Moment / Getty Images
How A Dentist Will Treat A Tooth Infection

Once a dentist has determined that you have an infection, the dentist can work to treat the infection, clear out any abscesses that have formed, and assess the damage. You will usually be given a prescription for antibiotics too. If there are abscesses in the tooth or in the gums near the tooth the dentist will go in and clean those pockets out to get rid of the bacteria. Often that can provide immediate relief from the pain of an infected tooth. The dentist will also check your teeth to see if you will need a root canal in order to save the tooth.
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Peppermint Tea Bag Or Oil
There is scientific evidence that peppermint can help relieve various types of pain. One in vitro study in the European Journal of Dentistry found that peppermint was one of three oils that worked as an effective intracanal antiseptic solution against oral pathogensmeaning it can effectively prevent the growth of bacteriaThosar N, Basak S, Bahadure RN, Rajurkar, M. Antimicrobial efficacy of five essential oils against oral pathogens: An in vitro study. European Journal of Dentistry. 2013:S71S77. .
If you have a toothache, Huang suggests applying a cold peppermint tea bag. Chill it and apply it in the area causing pain, she says. Alternatively, add a few drops of peppermint oil to a cotton ball and apply that directly against the affected tooth.
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What Is This Pressure And How Does It Form
The tooth infection can start in many ways but the most common reason is from tooth decay. It starts as a small cavity that grows bigger and bigger progressing through the stages of tooth decay until it reaches the nerve. Once the bacteria gets to the nerve, it will start to grow uncontrollably. Your body will try to fight off the infection by sending white blood cells to area.
Casualties occur on both sides with bacteria and white blood cells both dying. All of these dead cells pool together to form a white fluid called pus. As the infection rages on and more cells keep dying, the amount of pus starts to accumulate and grow. This growth in pus is what contributes to the swelling and pressure from within your tooth.
Once the swelling is maximized inside the tooth, the swelling will start to spread into the bone and into the surrounding soft tissue like your gums and cheeks. It gets progressively more painful as the swelling spreads because then you’re not only feeling pressure from the tooth but also the gums and your face.
Here is a picture of the abscess spreading into the gums.
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You can see a pimple that has swelled up besides the tooth. That pimple is full of pus so if you pop it, you’ll see white fluids pour out of it.
Here is a picture of an abscess that has spread beyond the gums and down into the throat and face area of the patient.
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Drying of the soft tissues in the mouth during mouth-breathing with a stuffy nose can cause plaque to form more quickly on the teeth. Saliva naturally helps keep our teeth clean, so when the mouth is dry this creates an area where more plaque can accumulate along the gum-line. This contributes to gingivitis and gum irritation.
Apply A Cold Compress
In general, there are two ways to stop or blunt toothache pain. The first involves reducing inflammation, while the second centers on interrupting the signals from the injury to the brain. You can accomplish the first goal by applying a cold pack or bag of frozen vegetables to the side of your face for 20 minutes at a time. Just be sure to use a piece of cloth as a buffer, so you dont accidentally damage your skin. This can help alleviate discomfort by blunting pain and reducing swelling.
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How Do You Treat A Tooth Abscess
A tooth abscess can arise from infections that develop inside the tooth. Bacteria can enter the tooth when its chipped, broken, or decaying.
Once the bacteria reach the center of the tooth and the tooth becomes infected, pus accumulates in the tooth. The pus in the tooth swells and results in a toothache.
If not treated, the infection could spread to the gums and bone of the mouth.
A tooth abscess should be treated by a dentist, but some home remedies can relieve the discomfort caused by the infection.
The following home remedies can be applied along with prescribed treatments.
Rinsing your mouth with salt water is an easy and affordable option for temporary relief of your abscessed tooth. It can also promote wound healing and healthy gums.
To use this remedy:
Baking soda is another affordable option for treating an abscessed tooth. You may even already have some in your kitchen cabinet.
Baking soda is excellent for removing plaque in the mouth. It also has antibacterial properties.
To use this remedy:
You can repeat this up to two times per day.
Complications Of A Gum Abscess
Dont ignore a gum abscess. If left untreated, the infection can spread deeper into the gum tissue and affect surrounding teeth and bones. This can cause increased pain and swelling, and the infection could travel to other parts of your face and body.
In rare cases, a gum infection can travel to the bloodstream and cause a life-threatening complication known as sepsis. symptoms include:
- a temperature above 101F
- difficulty breathing
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The Stages Of A Tooth Abscess
A tooth abscess starts local to the tooth and surrounding gum area. The abscess may rupture but you will still need to see your dentist for treatment.
The abscess could spread to the jaw and surrounding areas of your head and neck. You may have a swollen face, or your eye may swell shut. If left untreated, you may even develop sepsis a life-threatening infection that spreads throughout your whole body.
What Is A Toothache

A toothache may be sharp, dull or throbbing pain that is constant or sporadic, says Sharon Huang, D.D.S., founder of Les Belles NYC, a dental practice in New York. The cause can be related to an infected nerve inside the tooth or a gum infection. It can also be a symptom of a heart attack.
It is very important not to ignore toothaches because this is our bodys way of telling us something is wrong, Huang says. Our nerves are sending millions of messages to our brain of an attack, infection or injury and our brain is sending the signal for us to feel pain.
Why is a toothache so painful? Because the nerves inside your teeth are among the most sensitive in your body, she says. So when these nerves are irritated or infected, they can cause severe pain, she adds.
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Treating An Abscessed Tooth
When Can You Stop Worrying About Dry Socket
Most cases of dry socket develop within 35 days after surgery. The risk of this condition decreases over time, so the longer the wound heals, the lower the likelihood.
For standard tooth extractions, complete recovery takes a couple of weeks. However, wisdom tooth extractions can take much longer to heal. Once the wound fully heals, there is no risk of dry socket.
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Best Painkillers For Toothache
Toothaches are caused by a number of reasons like dental decay, broken or cracked tooth, abscess, inflamed tooth nerve, pericoronitis, sinusitis, acute gingivitis and so on. Treatment will depend on the cause of the pain and how serious the damage is. However, whatever the cause is, you will definitely need painkillers to relieve the pain.
In general, painkillers work by deceiving your brain that the pain is no longer there through your nerves, or by decreasing the inflammation. When you combine 2 types of painkillers together, you will definitely get the best results, but you should pick those that will not give you outrageous side effects. Below are some best painkillers for toothache.
1. Ibuprofen or Ketoprofen
This is the best painkiller for toothache that you can get over the counter, and it is an anti-inflammatory that contains no steroids. The common version is the ibuprofen, which is either found under many brand names or its generic version that is cheaper. Nurofen , Motrin and Advil are the most common brands. Ketoprofen is sold under several trade names or its real name. You can ask your pharmacist for ketoprofen. If you are asthmatic, however, you should not take it. Make sure you read the label for any other contradictions.
2. Aspirin
4. Over-the-Counter Gels, Pastes or Luquids
5. Opioid
20 Common Painkillers for Toothache |
Aleve oral |
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A List Of Painkillers Used By Dentists To Relieve Symptoms Of Toothache Gum Pain And Other Dental Conditions
Pain management in dentistry is of the utmost importance and can improve clinical outcomes. But it can also be a challenge. Work on the hard tooth structure does not usually result in excessive pain. Rather, the major cause of pain is often an inflammatory response which activates pain-producing mediators in the soft tissue. So the key lies in knowing if damage has already been done to the pulp and soft tissues, and whether or not treatment will create more of an inflammatory response. If so, the dentist must decide which analgesics to administer, either pre or postoperatively, to relieve pain. Here are a few painkillers the dentist might prescribe:
Acetylsalicylic Acid
This is one of the most well-known and most widely used pain killers in the world. In fact, it was the first nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory discovered. It reduces fever and works as an anti-inflammatory. It also reduces clotting, which is why many physicians prescribe it to help prevent strokes and heart attacks. For this reason, aspirin is not a good painkiller to use if you knock out a tooth or the dentist extracts it. Aspirin is not recommended for patients who are allergic to any NSAIDs, under the age of 16, or who have asthma or uncontrolled hypertension. Some side effects can include stomach irritation, indigestion, or nausea.
Ibuprofen or Ketoprofen
Homeopathic options
Emergency Dentist
How To Relieve A Sinus Infection Tooth Pain
There are times when a dental condition is not the primary cause of a toothache. If you are among the 29.4 million people suffering from sinus infections, you may be aware of this.
Medical News Today defines sinusitis as a common inflammation of the paranasal sinuses, the cavities that produce the mucus necessary for the nasal passages to work effectively. It can be acute or chronic, and caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, allergies, or even an autoimmune reaction. The infection begins in your maxillary sinuses, which is located just above your molar teeth roots. Your sinuses can start swelling due to the buildup of bacterial or viral mucus. The pressure it puts on your dental nerve endings can cause a throbbing or painful sensation on one or more of your teeth.
If you are experiencing tooth pain that is caused by a sinus infection, the latter requires treatment since it is the source of the problem. To allow proper airflow in your sinus cavities and drain the mucus, follow these tips:
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