How Toothaches Give Headaches.
Headaches can be pretty brutal by themselves. However, when coupled with a toothache which is just as painful if not more, the results can be catastrophic. You won’t find any sleep; you will be extremely irritable and uncomfortable. As such, most people tend only to take painkillers which remove or lessen the pain at the moment but do not address the underlying issues. When you are having a headache as a result of a toothache, there is usually one of three scenarios at play; all of which need a dentist’s touch to solve.
Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD)
This is a condition that causes the teeth to ache and consequently also affect the head. The temporomandibular joints are found in the area where the jaws and the skull connect. Since the muscles on the side of the face control movements of the joints, the injured tooth can cause pain to shoot up the head. This is especially a problem for some ladies given the amounts of estrogen they produce either naturally or as a byproduct of using birth control pills. TMD is also caused by some abnormalities or conditions such as effacing of wisdom teeth, grinding teeth, eating some hard foods and also chewing large amounts of gum on a daily basis.
Abscessed Tooth
This is the leading cause of tooth-based aches. This type of tooth is caused by a severe crack or cavity in the tooth which has consequently brought about infection of the mouth and the surrounding tissues. Since there are several nerves passing through the mouth and head, the resulting infection agitates the nerves causing sharp throbbing, shooting pain from the area around the jaw to different areas of the head.
Cavities
Cavities mostly occur on the surface of teeth and in the roots. They are usually caused by eating and drinking sugary drinks or lack of oral hygiene such as regular brushing. Once the tooth is cracked open, the cavity gets bigger by eating away at the enamel of the tooth, therefore, exposing nerves to different things such as sugars, hot and cold foods that cause the exposed nerve to respond by sending pain to other regions of the face. This can be fixed by a dentist who will fill up the cavity and prevent further spreading.
