Any oral issue that leaves you in severe pain counts as a dental emergency. Toothaches are your body’s way of letting you know something is wrong in your mouth. A severe toothache is a good indicator that the problem in your mouth is serious enough to require urgent care.
A dental emergency requires immediate care. Waiting up to two weeks for a regular appointment slot is not an option when you are dealing with pain so severe, it makes it impossible for you to concentrate on anything or get quality sleep at night.
The only permanent solution to severe tooth pain is diagnosing the cause of the patient’s problems and addressing them. Painkillers and other products that help with tooth pain only mask the pain until your body builds up resistance to their active ingredients.
Let us take a look at some of the common causes of severe tooth pain and how a dentist goes about addressing them:
A broken tooth might require emergency dental care if the damage reaches its pulp chamber. The pulp chamber is in the center of a tooth’s crown, and it contains its blood vessels and nerves. The area is sealed off from the rest of a tooth, and it is covered with a layer of dentin and enamel.
Minor damage to a tooth often only affects its enamel and dentin, but severe damage might open up the pulp chamber. Signs damage to a tooth has left its pulp chamber compromised include blood coming from inside the tooth, severe toothaches, and increased sensitivity. A tooth’s pulp chamber being opened up also significantly increases its vulnerability to infection.
Treatment
A severely damaged tooth can be addressed by performing root canal therapy. During the procedure, the tooth’s pulp chamber is cleaned out and sealed with a material called gutta-percha. That is typically enough to stop the pain caused by the damage and protect the tooth against infection.
A tooth infection develops when bacteria in the mouth infect the soft tissues in the pulp chamber. Tooth infections often come with symptoms like bad breath, severe pain, and pus coming from the tooth. The toothaches caused by an infection are some of the worse a person can experience. The infection in a tooth can also spread to other parts of the body like the brain and heart, which can have life-threatening consequences.
Treatment
Root canal therapy is the standard treatment for tooth infection. The dentist drills a hole into the tooth, and dental files are used to extract the soft tissues in the pulp chamber. The area is cleaned, and medication is inserted into the tooth before it is sealed. The dentist might recommend extracting the tooth if there is a risk of the infection spreading to other parts of the body.
Dealing with a nasty toothache? Give us a call or head to our Pasadena office to get the treatments you need.
Request an appointment here: https://okamotoandbigleydentistry.com or call Okamoto and Bigley Dentistry at (626) 472-2178 for an appointment in our Pasadena office.
Check out what others are saying about our dental services on Yelp: Dental Emergency in Pasadena, CA.
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