Toothache

Toothache, also known as dental pain, is pain in the teeth or their supporting structures, caused by dental diseases or pain referred to the teeth by non-dental diseases. When severe it may impact sleep, eating, and other daily activities. Common causes include inflammation of the pulp, dentin hypersensitivity, apical periodontitis, dental abscesses, alveolar osteitis, acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis, and temporomandibular disorder. Pulpitis is reversible when the pain is mild to moderate and lasts for a short time after a stimulus; or irreversible when the pain is severe, spontaneous, and lasts a long time after a stimulus. Left untreated, pulpitis may become irreversible, then progress to pulp necrosis and apical periodontitis. Abscesses usually cause throbbing pain.