When you suffer from toothache and headache simultaneously, it’s natural to wonder if they’re inter-related. It may be possible that your toothache is triggering the headache, or this painful combination might be an indication of an underlying health issue.
Let’s have a more in-depth look into a toothache causing headache scenarios and see what this indicates.
TOOTHACHE CAUSING MIGRAINE?
An aching tooth can have several causes, including cavities, broken teeth, and impacted wisdom teeth. A migraine is a throbbing, often one-sided headache that may further cause nausea, vomiting, and light or sound sensitivity if you don’t manage the earlier symptoms.
Experts say that the trigeminal nerve can play a role in toothaches, causing headaches. This nerve provides sensations to most of your face, lips, teeth and gums too.
Underlying dental conditions can irritate the supply of trigeminal nerve branch. As a result, it triggers a migraine.
REFERRED TOOTH PAIN:
Toothaches don’t need only to cause headaches. Sometimes, you witness a painful sensation in a separate body part than the one causing pain. Dentists call it referred pain.
Tooth decay or advanced gum diseases can be a reason for such pain. This is due to the trigeminal nerve, which has many nerve connections and connects teeth and other facial structures to the brain.
An example of referred pain is Bruxism. This often happens at night and it is generally dull. You can feel it mostly behind your eyes and wrapping around your head too. Common problems associated with this condition include trouble opening/closing the mouth, sore teeth and jaw muscles, or clicking in the jaw joint.
UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITIONS:
There are some situations in which you may witness both headache and toothache but are not directly related to dental or primary headache disorders (like migraine or tension-type headache).
One of the most common types of such conditions is a sinus infection. A sinus infection may be the reason for discomfort from one to several teeth. Sinus significantly affects your upper teeth since their location is right below the maxillary sinus, behind your cheekbones.
Moreover, people may witness a headache due to the affected sinus cavity, which may get worse as you bend forward. These are common symptoms of sinus infection.
Other signs include:
- Fever and fatigue
- Nasal congestion and purulent discharge
- Pressure in the ear and bad breath
WHEN SHOULD YOU SEE A DOCTOR?
If your toothache or headache doesn’t subside over some days, ensure that you see a doctor. It’s always good to diagnose a problem in its early stage/
If you have received any dental surgery or procedure for toothache but didn’t obtain relief, it is reasonable to talk to your primary care doctor about the condition. He might direct you to a specialist.
ENDNOTE:
Getting to the root of your toothache or headache can be challenging; however, once the dentist diagnoses the problem, you can move to a treatment plan.
Visit us at Pearland Family Dentistry or call at 832-649-7344 to book an appointment at your earliest.