Posted on: February 28, 2018

When you live a busy life, you inevitably put some things on the back burner. Unfortunately, some people tend to put their health last when they have too many things going on. If you’ve ever had nagging tooth pain and ignored it or treated it with over-the-counter pain medications, you know firsthand how hard it can be to find time for a dental appointment. However, ignoring a toothache can lead to serious oral problems that require extensive treatment. In fact, most serious problems like gum disease and inflamed tooth pulp share the common symptom of tooth pain.

What Tooth Pain Could Mean

Many people don’t take tooth pain seriously, and some mistakenly assume it will eventually go away on its own. However, tooth pain could be a symptom of any of these common oral problems:

• Gum disease
• Tooth decay
• Infection
• Bruxism (chronic teeth grinding)

Tooth decay is the most common cause of toothache and can typically be treated by removing the affected portion of the tooth and replacing it with a special filling material. However, your pain could also be an indication of gum disease, infection, or bruxism. Gum disease has three main stages. If you catch it early, you can most likely reverse it. However, if you delay treatment until it advances to its second or third stage, you’ll no longer be able to reverse the condition but will need to receive regular treatments just to manage it.

If your tooth pain is due to infection in the tooth root, a root canal will most likely be needed to remove the infected material and replace it with an inert material. If your pain stems from bruxism (chronic teeth grinding), your dentist will fit you with a mouthguard that you’ll need to wear at night.

Schedule Your Consultation

It’s important to see your dentist for a consultation if you have tooth pain. The sooner you diagnose and correct the problem, the less likely you’ll be to need extensive treatment. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Patrick Cieplak, contact our cutting-edge practice today.