Toothache is common complaint that everyone may face at least 1 time in their life. The pain level may vary from mild to severe and the symptoms are not the same, which depend on the cause. The effort to find out main cause of your miserable pain is reasonable. If toothache is excruciating you , please visit Minh Khai dental clinic for careful check-up as soon as possible.
1.Tooth decay
If you think tooth decay only disturbs the children, it is totally wrong. In fact, tooth decay can be a big problem to adults. Main cause of tooth decay is bacteria plaque stick on your teeth. First tooth decay attacks your enamel, then goes deeper into the dentin layer. The more layers tooth decay accesses, the worse the damage is. If left untreated, tooth decay can be destructive to dental pulp causing infection, which is considered to be the worst stage. At this stage, tooth loss may be unavoidable.
Tooth decay is the most common cause of toothache
It’s quite difficult to recognize you have tooth decay at early stage. The symptoms are not clear. Patients may feel mild irritated and sensitive especially when eating or drinking hot and cold. When the tooth decay gets worse, severe persistent pain can cause patients to be unable to eat or sleep properly.
2.Periodontal (Gum) Disease
Periodontal disease – an infection of the whole gums and bone structure surrounding the teeth – is also a common pain cause. Main factor causing disease is bacteria plaque buildup on your teeth. Gum diseases have 2 main stages: gingivitis and periodontitis. Symptoms at early stage – Gingivitis, can be listed as:
- Gum sensitivity, easily bleeding gum when brushing or flossing
Gum bleeding is the first symptom of gum disease
- Swollen gum
- Mild tooth sensitivity when eating/drinking hot and cold.
- Bad breath
If gingivitis left untreated, periodontitis occurs, which leads to serious irreversible destruction. The advanced stage of periodontitis is accompanied with symptoms:
- Tender, bleeding gum
- Gum tissue separates from the teeth, forming pockets which cause more bacteria plaque formation
- Receding gum, loosen teeth, resulting in tooth loss
3. Wisdom teeth growth
Wisdom teeth (also known as the third molars) often erupt after the age of 18. It’s normal to feel a little discomfort due to appearance of your wisdom tooth. But don’t neglect if you feel painful. See your dentist as soon as possible. Wisdom teeth are impacted if they do not have enough space to emerge or grow in crooked, sideways. When wisdom teeth develop abnormally, they can push on other teeth, leading to overcrowding and misalignment of all teeth.
Wisdom teeth come out at wrong angle can push on other teeth
Wisdom teeth may need to be removed if you develop these symptoms:
- Jaw pain
- Swelling
- Infection
- Damage to neighboring teeth
- Bitter taste in your mouth
- Difficult with opening your mouth
4. Cracked tooth (chipped or broken tooth):

Main causes of tooth crack
- Biting hard objects or foods causes undue stress on tooth (ice, nuts, uncooked carrot, hard candy…)
- Accident injury, facial trauma
- Grinding or clenching teeth
- Uneven chewing pressure
- Tooth wear causes loss of tooth structure
- Teeth with old large fillings
- Exposure of tooth enamel to extreme hot and cold temperatures, sudden change in temperature of food/ drink taken (drink ice right after hot food)
Warning signs of cracked tooth:
- You feel pain when you bite or chew. Some severe cases result in sharp pain even there is no mouth activity
- You only chew on the other side of your mouth where there is no fracture
- Your tooth is extremely sensitive to hot or cold.
- Feeling that object is stuck between your teeth