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Emergency Dentistry For Severe Tooth Pain

Auburn Emergency Dentist - Dr. Marie Durflinger

It’s the middle of the night and you wake up with a pulsating pain in your jaw bone that continually gets worse as the minutes pass by.  You know something is seriously wrong.

If you have ever had a toothache, you know how important it is to have a dentist on speed dial.  There are several things that can cause severe tooth pain.  Read on to learn the top reasons you may be experiencing a painful tooth ache or severe jaw pain and what you can do about it.


TOOTH ABSCESS

Webster’s Dictionary defines an abscess as, “a localized collection of pus surrounded by inflamed tissue.”  Sounds pretty painful right?  Tooth abscesses are usually excruciating.  When you develop a cavity in your tooth or a tooth fracture, bacteria that live in your mouth can access the nerve of your tooth and cause an internal tooth infection.

BROKEN TOOTH

If you are missing a large chuck of your tooth, it is pretty obvious why it may be hurting.  But even if you have a small undetectable fracture in your tooth, bacteria may be able to enter the nerve chamber and cause a painful infection.  Cracked Tooth Syndrome is what it is called.  Sometimes it is detectable before the painful infection develops.  If you get pain when you bite down on hard things and the pain goes away when you release, it is likely cracked tooth syndrome.  If you have a broken tooth, call our office for an examination.  If you are in pain from a broken tooth, we can often see you the same day you call and get you out of pain.  Dr. Marie Durflinger, owner of Auburn Family Dental, has a team of dental professionals ready to help you.  She has been treating broken teeth for over 25 years with a gentle and caring touch.

WISDOM TEETH

When wisdom teeth are impacted, they can cause the jaw bone to ache.  They can also cause a very painful bone infection.  If your wisdom tooth begins to erupt but there is not enough room for it to come all the way in, we call this a partially erupted tooth.  It can develop a serious gum infection called periocornitis and can be very painful.  Treating wisdom teeth often involves removal.  If you are over the age of 20 and still have your wisdom teeth, you should make sure to have them evaluated at every regular check up.  Dr. Marie Durflinger, a Seattle Top Dentist, has been treating tooth aches and dental pain for over twenty five years.  At Auburn Family Dental, our goal is to help you prevent tooth pain and tooth aches and help you to avoid pain.

TMJ/MALOCCLUSION

The way your teeth come together has a large impact on tooth pain.  If you are continually hitting your upper teeth and lower teeth together too hard in any area it can traumatize the nerve of your tooth and cause a sensitive tooth.  You can even break teeth this way.  Malocclusion and TMJ can be treated with a simple device called a deprogrammer.  Dr. Marie Durflinger is an expert at helping you to overcome bite problems and TMJ pain.  If you feel  like your teeth don’t fit together correctly, call today for an examination to see if you are a good candidate for a dental deprogrammer.  253-833-2200

SINUS INFECTION

Did you know that when you get a sinus infection it can affect your teeth?  Typically it is not a permanent.  When the sinus infection fully clears, the tooth pain goes away.  The roots of your upper teeth often extend into your sinus cavity.  If you develop a bacterial or viral infection in your sinus cavity it can cause inflammation in the nerve that leads to your upper teeth and mimic a tooth ache.

GUM DISEASE

Gum disease is not usually painful but in some instances (usually severe gum disease or acute fast moving gum disease) it can be very painful.  If your gums ache or feel itchy and hot you may have a gum infection like gingivitis.  Advanced gum disease can cause you to lose teeth and should not be taken lightly.  Gum disease can also lead to tooth abscesses described above.  The difference is that bacteria enter the tooth through the side and burrow their way down between the gum and tooth until they reach the root apex.  If you think you have gum disease or it has been a long period of time since you have had a teeth cleaning, Dr. Marie Durflinger has a team of experienced and gentle professionals capable of treating your gum disease and helping you to save your teeth.

PREVENTION

The thing about dental pain and tooth aches is that by the time you can feel it, it’s usually pretty involved.  That is why we highly recommend having regular check ups and occasional dental x-rays.  Catching tooth decay, tooth fractures and other dental problems when they are small makes for less interruptions in your life.

Dr. Marie Durflinger has been treating dental emergencies for over 25 years and can help you get out of pain if you are having a dental emergency.  We are currently seeing new patients so if you have a dental emergency do not hesitate to call today 253-833-2200.  We can often see you the same day you call. 

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 27th, 2012 at 10:09 am and is filed under Tooth Aches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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