Dental Care for All of Us

If you develop throbbing dental pain, then you need to seek emergency dental care. Before the dentist can recommend a treatment plan for your symptoms, you may need to undergo some diagnostic tests, such as bitewing x-rays. While severe dental pain is often the result of tooth or gum problems, it can also indicate a dangerous medical condition. Here are some causes and consequences of severe dental pain. 

Purulent Pulp Infection

Throbbing dental pain may mean that you have a purulent pulp infection, otherwise known as an abscess. In addition to severe pain, you may also experience fever, sore throat, and muscle pain. If not treated quickly, the infection-causing pus contained in the tooth may spread to other parts of the body.

A dental infection can spread to the sinuses, and in rare cases, the brain. Purulent pulp infections can also spread to one or more of your cranial nerves. For example, if the cranial nerves known as the facial and trigeminal nerves are affected as a result of a dental abscess, you may experience searing facial pain, numbness, and pins and needles sensations.

Depending upon the severity of your infection, your dentist may either recommend a root canal treatment, antibiotics, or a combination of both. If the infection is extreme, the tooth may be unsalvagable, and therefore, would require extraction. 

Heart And Blood Pressure Consequences 

In certain people, severe dental pain can raise the risk of high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmia. Significant pain can cause anxiety and the release of stress hormones. If you have preexisting health conditions such as hypertension or cardiovascular disease, you'll need to seek emergency dental treatment quickly so that your pain can be relieved. If severe dental pain is left untreated, your blood pressure may spike to dangerous levels if you have hypertension.

If you have angina or heart disease, your dental pain may cause severe chest pain and shortness of breath. If you experience any of these symptoms as a result of your dental pain, seek emergency medical attention at the nearest hospital.

The physician will evaluate and treat your emergency symptoms, and once you have been stabilized, he or she will evaluate your dental pain. If your dental pain cannot be treated in the emergency room, you will be advised to see your dentist once you have been discharged. 

If you develop severe dental pain, see your emergency dentist as soon as possible. Once the cause of your pain has been uncovered, a treatment plan will be developed. If your dental pain causes heart symptoms, however, get to the hospital at once.