Sometimes you can go days without any discomfort in your tooth, but then the pain comes back.
You wonder whether you should get the toothache checked out or just wait it out and hope that whatever is going on resolves itself.
When it comes to nagging toothaches, Dr. Danny Jeon and our team of dental experts at Tucker Family Dental in Tucker, Georgia, advise against a wait-and-see approach.
Waiting out a toothache could mean the loss of that tooth if there’s a growing cavity or another type of infection. Let’s take a look.
Let’s explore some of the more common causes of tooth pain, starting with tooth decay and cavities.
Nearly 90% of adults between the ages of 20 and 64 in the United States have had decay. Also called dental caries, tooth decay occurs when harmful bacteria erode the tooth, creating a cavity.
Left unchecked, these bacteria will continue to damage the tooth, often to the point where you lose the tooth. Worse still, these bacteria can start to invade surrounding teeth.
If bacteria gain access to the roots of your tooth, it can cause nagging pain, especially when you’re using the tooth or with temperature changes (you drink something cold or hot).
As with tooth decay and cavities, left untreated, a root canal infection can threaten the tooth, which explains why more than 15 million root canal procedures are performed in the US each year.
More than 42% of Americans over the age of 30 have gum disease, which causes as much tooth loss as tooth decay. If the infection spreads to the hard tissues behind the gums, it can lead to a lingering toothache.
Combined, the three conditions we describe above account for most of the tooth loss in the US. In fact, about 11% of people in the US between the ages of 65 and 74 have lost all of their teeth.
What tooth decay, gum disease, and root canal infections also share in common is the fact that these conditions are progressive, which means early intervention is critical.
Much of the work that Dr. Jeon and our team accomplish at our practice is geared toward preserving teeth. But we can only do that if you take action at the first signs of trouble, and a lingering toothache is a clear sign.
So, in the interests of keeping your teeth for years to come, it’s a good idea to have us check out your tooth pain so that we can contain it and bring you relief.
We invite you to call our office at (678) 233-2945, or you can book an appointment online with Tucker Family Dental today.
