[TheBigDog]

I am 40 years old and I have no cavities. I had two cavities in my baby teeth, but none in my adult choppers. This week I got a toothache, and I think that my perfect pearlies may have been compromised. I have a dental appointment for Thursday, but I am wondering this... is it possible that my toothache is not a cavity? I really don't have much experience with this. I get tooth pain once in a while, but this is the real McCoy. Even breathing cool air makes me cringe. Biting down on it hurts like hell, but it then goes away after the first couple of chomps. I think this is from swelling under the tooth that gets pushed back painfully but once receded there is no more pain.

Any ideas?

Bill

[Tormod]

Uhmm...see a dentist? 40-year-old guys think they know it all.

[Monomer]

I found this information TBD:

Sometimes, a toothache may be caused by a problem not originating from a tooth or the jaw. Pain around the teeth and the jaws can be symptoms of diseases of the heart (such as angina or heart attack), ears (such as inner or external ear infections), and sinuses (air passages of the cheek bones).

The site lists the causes of toothache to be:

• Dental Cavities
• Gum Disease
• Tooth root sensitivities
• Cracked Tooth Syndrome
• Temporo-Mandibular Joint (TMJ) Syndrome
• Impaction & Eruption

Toothache – Explanation regarding the many causes of this common ailment on MedicineNet.com

[freeztar]

I once had similar symptoms Bill and it turned out that I needed a root canal. I had bumped my tooth while playing soccer and over weeks afterwards, the roots died and began to decay. The decaying roots released gas that swelled up inside my gum. For your sake, I hope it's just a cavity.

[UncleAl]

Dentist! It might be nothing, it might be a (sterile) abscess. Even a sterile abscess will progressively erode bone. In the lower jaw this can lead to fragility and breakage. In the upper jaw it can erode into a sinus cavity, an eye socket, or into the brain. You definitely do not want a disseminated bone infection - they are treated by surgical ablation. Dentist!

If it looks even a little bit ugly, endodontist. A good dentist knwws when to call in specialist for the central heavy work. If it is there you want somebody who sees a lot of it (learning curve).

The secrets to surviving drilling are decent local anesthesia (this is 2008 - no pain) and a set of headphones playing music. Do not try ballistic earplugs or muffs. They will filter out the high pitch sound of the drill so you can hear the low pitch sound of your tooth being ground away. If your mouth will be open for an hour, the dentist should give you a rubber chock to rest your jaw open.

It's not a biggie, it merely requires skilled hands.

[TheBigDog]

Back from the dentist and the news is that there is nothing wrong with my tooth. He thinks that it might be from grinding my teeth, but after x-rays and examination there is nothing wrong with the tooth and nothing visibly wrong with the gums. It has gotten better over the past couple of days so he has instructed me to keep an eye on it and see him if it does not get better. I am going to use Advil to see if it helps and try not to eat any gravel.

Sometimes strange things happen I guess.

Bill

[Moontanman]

Dentist! Don't go to the dentist dude! Dentists are bad for your teeth! it's a statistical fact that the people who go to the dentist the most have the worst teeth and the most teeth problems! Statistics never lie dude!

[TheBigDog]

Uhh... But he sent me home without doing anything... was it really a visit to the dentist then? Am I safe due to an act of inaction?

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by TheBigDog

Am I safe due to an act of inaction?

Only if you reverse the charges.

[Biomajor]

You could simply have something small stuck between your tooth & gums and it became inflammed. It's happened to me many times. Once I retrieved the object, the pain begun to subside as well as the swelling.

but, yeah...also consider it could be a secondary condition of a possible serious primary (angina, etc as the above poster said). See your doc first...rule out this with some blood work, etc and if you come up clean...go see your dentist if it continues to bother you.