Dental Care for All of Us

Throbbing tooth pain makes it difficult to concentrate or to sleep. While you can try home remedies to keep you comfortable while you are awaiting your dental appointment, their effectiveness is often short-lived. You need to see a dental professional, who can identify the source of your pain and recommend a treatment plan. Most commonly, throbbing tooth pain is caused by an infection. Here are some actions your dentist may take to treat your severe toothache.

Root Canal

If you are experiencing severe pain, you need to see your dentist as soon as possible. Throbbing tooth pain can be accompanied by facial swelling and gum pain, which may be indicative of an abscess. Other signs of a dental abscess may include fever, bleeding gums, an unpleasant taste in the mouth when chewing, and jaw pain. An abscessed tooth happens when infection-causing microorganisms invade the pulp located inside the tooth.

If not recognized and treated quickly, an abscessed pulp may spread to your jawbone. Abscessed teeth that cause throbbing pain often require root canal treatment. Your dentist will remove the infected pulp, clean the area, and seal it with a special compound. Once the infectious material is gone from the tooth, your pain will subside. To further ensure that the infection clears after your root canal, your dentist may prescribe antibiotics.

Tooth Extraction

If your dentist is unable to save your tooth with root canal treatment, your only other option may be extraction. If a dental abscess is not quickly treated, the infection may become so invasive that the tooth structure will be destroyed.

The structure of your tooth needs to be intact in order for the root canal therapy to be successful. After getting your tooth extracted, you may need to take antibiotics. Dental antibiotics used in the treatment of severe infections are very potent, and because of this, they may cause severe gastrointestinal problems.

Dental antibiotics can alter the bacterial flora in your gut, and when this happens, you may experience abdominal pain and diarrhea. Eating yogurt or taking a probiotic supplement can help restore balance in your gastrointestinal tract, which will help relieve your symptoms.

If you develop throbbing tooth pain, see your dentist right away. After a complete oral examination that will probably include bitewing dental X-rays, your dentist will recommend the appropriate treatment. Do not delay seeing your dentist, because if you put it off for too long, you may develop complications such as bone destruction and the spread of infection to your bloodstream.