Toothache diagnosis: uncover the causes

The dentist is the first point of contact for complaints on the bit. He determines the causes of the pain with targeted examinations

Where exactly is the dental problem: An x-ray of the dentition gives an insight

Toothache: causes
How toothache arises
Diagnosis of toothache
Therapy and self-help

If your teeth only react occasionally to cold food and beverages or to drafts, pay more attention to dental care. Also, get advice from your dentist or in your practice from a dental hygienist (dental hygienist) or a specially trained specialist assistant.

Toothache: when to the dentist?

Get an appointment with the dentist right away, if

the symptoms persist despite careful care, which also creates warm and sweet things for you,
You only have intervals at first, and then increasingly dull throbbing pain in a tooth or part of the bit,
the dental environment is swollen,
You have pain often or for seemingly no reason,
Your gums bleed or leave traces of blood when you eat or brush your teeth,
suddenly stabbing pain,
it hurts when chewing or clenching your teeth, or when
Add jaw, headache, fever or facial pain.

Call the emergency doctor immediately if severe toothache appears atypically from the whole jaw and at the same time there may be symptoms in the chest or abdomen, arm, neck or back and / or nausea, drowsiness. Severe eye and toothache should be taken to an ophthalmologist or eye clinic immediately.

The complaints on the tooth or teeth give first indications

Where exactly does it hurt? How does the pain feel? Stinging, burning, dull boring, throbbing? What other areas in the mouth, head, face or the rest of the body still hurt? Are there additional complaints such as swelling, fever, nausea? Try to describe the symptoms to your dentist as precisely as possible.

The doctor also asks about acute illnesses, such as sinus infections, injuries sustained and, if they are not already known to him, possible underlying diseases such as diabetes, asthma or blood clotting disorders. Lifestyle habits and possible risk factors such as smoking or stress can also be discussed when taking the patient’s medical history (medical history). The dentist may also provide you with appropriate questionnaires, especially if you are coming to the practice for the first time or have not been there for a long time.

Examination of the teeth and mouth

After the doctor-patient conversation, the dentist may first scan the neck and head area from the outside. With a mirror and a curved, mostly blunt examination probe, the dentist looks closely at the painful tooth, but also the rest of the teeth. The mirror enables him to see the inside of the teeth. The probe travels over teeth, tooth rims and fillings. In this way, he checks what the enamel is made of, whether deposits have formed, how tight the fillings are. In addition, it can detect damage such as tooth decay early, as well as inflammatory processes on the gums and tooth structure (periodontitis).

For him, it is also revealing what it looks like in the entire oral cavity and on the tongue, how the upper and lower jaw and the bit parts fit together.

If tooth pockets have formed due to periodontitis, the dentist uses a periodontal probe to measure their depth. For the vitality test, he touches a suspicious tooth with an ice-cold substance. If it hurts, the nerves in the pulp are still active. If necessary, he exposes the tooth to further stimuli and checks how it reacts to hot, sweet or sour things.

Uncover hidden tooth damage: imaging procedures, laboratory tests

The dentist can use X-rays to identify important tooth damage, such as caries, which progresses in the spaces or under the cover layers. This also includes defective fillings, tooth root inflammation or abscesses and damage to the jawbone. New digital X-ray technologies manage with less radiation exposure. In order to determine the onset of tooth decay at an early stage, dentists sometimes offer supplementary early diagnosis examinations, which, however, have to be paid for.
In the case of persistent periodontitis, the dentist takes secretion samples from a tooth pocket to have the pathogens determined in the laboratory. This is necessary, for example, if antibiotic treatment is indicated.

The diagnosis then determines the subsequent therapy, which is always aimed at the causes.

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