Causes of night toothaches
Why do my teeth hurt more at night than during the day? The reasons for this are psychological and/or physiological. Let's look at them in more detail.
The body and brain relax
After a difficult day at work, you go to bed, perhaps you fall asleep safely for a while, and at night your tooth begins to ache, which was just aching during the day. At night, the unpleasant sensations intensify due to the fact that the body and brain finally managed to relax, because during the day your head is filled with a list of different things and tasks - you communicate with colleagues and other people, you receive new information, experience work tension and stress. Because of this, toothache, if present, seems less intense. In the evening, you focus specifically on the unpleasant sensations.
At night, all life processes slow down
For example, much less saliva is produced at night, and the oral cavity dries out because of this. Saliva has an antiseptic and even analgesic effect, and since it is absent, then all inflammatory processes, be it pain in the throat or teeth, manifest their symptoms in full force.
A small amount of saliva is not the only reason. During the daytime, all people's adrenal glands work well, secreting corticosteroids that reduce the intensity of discomfort. At night, the activity of the adrenal glands is slowed down. Another reason is that at night the tone of the so-called vagus nerve or vagus (nervus vagus), located in the brain, decreases, which can lead to worse general health.
Increased blood flow to the head
Often the tooth hurts at night when lying down, because... It is then that the blood rushes to the head especially strongly, the inflamed tissues swell, and the internal pressure on the nerve endings increases.
This is interesting! At night, not only pain caused by dental diseases intensifies, but also pain that arises against the background of internal pathologies of the body. The most difficult hours: from 12 at night to 5 in the morning (it is noteworthy that this period accounts for the most deaths and births on the planet).
Dental diseases and problems
Night pain is most characteristic of pulpitis. Why does a tooth with pulpitis hurt especially badly at night? Because in this case, the most sensitive area of the tooth is affected, which is the concentration of nerve fibers, endings and blood vessels. The pain is acute, occurs spontaneously, but intensifies in a lying position and even seems unbearable when the nerve endings are abundantly supplied with blood and are compressed.
On a note! With pulpitis, pain rarely occurs on only one side, exactly where the diseased tooth is located. Most often, it does not have a clear localization, “spills” into other parts of the face, and can radiate to the head, temples, and ears.
At night, purulent-inflammatory processes can also manifest themselves especially acutely: periodontitis, cyst, abscess, gumboil.
Some patients note: they have the feeling that their teeth hurt in the presence of pathologies such as gingivitis or periodontitis. Although in fact the source of pain in these diseases is the gums, they are the ones that itch, ache and throb.
Non-dental diseases
Pain can radiate to the teeth due to problems with the ENT organs: due to an acute inflammatory process in the sinuses, with sinusitis, otitis media and sinusitis. The cause of discomfort may also be inflammation of the trigeminal nerve.
Psychosomatic problems
If your tooth hurts in the evening and at night, but goes away during the day, then some doctors say that this may be due to your psychological state. It is closer to the night, when the main affairs are settled and there is free time to think, that many people begin to “burrow” into their problems, remembering difficulties in relationships with loved ones, colleagues, mistakes and failures.
If you have a similar situation, then first you should find out whether you have any dental or other diseases by undergoing an examination with a dentist and therapist.
On a note! Toothache at night occurs in people with bruxism - this disease can appear due to neurological and psychological problems caused by stress and nervous tension1. However, involuntary strong clenching of the jaws requires contact not only with highly specialized specialists, but also with a dentist, because It is this that will help eliminate the consequences of the disease - cracking and thinning of the enamel. The dentist will also prevent further damage by prescribing you to wear special mouthguards.
General rules for oral care when it is not possible to immediately visit a dentist
If toothache appears at the most inopportune time and in the most inopportune place, then you should use the available means to alleviate your condition:
- You can apply ice to the sore side or suck an ice cube like a candy;
- Do not heat a sore tooth, this can lead to activation of the inflammatory process and increased pain;
- if there is a carious cavity, food debris should be removed from it, and gum pockets, if any, should also be cleaned;
- in case of severe pain, you can take any painkiller, but you should not get carried away with them; taking analgesics does not replace a visit to the dentist.
Night pain after dental treatment: normal or pathological?
It also happens that a tooth hurts after filling at night, after treatment of deep caries, after depulpation, after prosthetic crowns, or in general pain occurs after tooth extraction. In these situations, unpleasant sensations may be normal consequences, a reaction of living tissues to manipulations performed by a doctor. In this case, it will be enough to take a tablet or syrup from your home medicine cabinet to eliminate the unpleasant symptom. Typically, discomfort goes away 2-5 days after treatment procedures.
“My wisdom tooth has been hurting at night for almost three weeks now, but not too much, just aching. I went to the doctor the other day, he said that this is normal, because... The tooth is now actively erupting and passing through the jawbone. But how long this process can last is not clear; everything is purely individual for everyone. From the pictures we saw that the direction of its growth is normal, and now all that remains is to control and wait for its complete eruption... By the way, massage of the earlobes and between the index and thumb of the hands saves me from pain, but I repeat that my discomfort is not so severe , everything is more or less tolerable.”
Marianna, review from the dental portal gidpozubam.ru
If the tooth hurts every night after treatment, the discomfort intensifies and is accompanied by an increase in body temperature, the appearance of a putrid odor from the mouth, and the discharge of pus, then this indicates complications and requires immediate consultation with a doctor. Most likely, during the treatment the doctor made mistakes, or the patient himself violated the rules of hygiene, which led to the penetration of infection and the development of an inflammatory process under the crown, under the filling, in the socket of the extracted tooth.
Measures you can take on your own to relieve pain
If your tooth hurts at night, you need to know what to do. You can alleviate the condition by taking analgesic medications from your home medicine cabinet. Modern remedies begin to act within 10-20 minutes after administration.
Read a detailed article about choosing the best tablets for toothache.
In order to reduce pain, you can use traditional rinses with warm decoctions of chamomile and oak bark, and a soda-saline solution. Decoctions should not be hot or cold, because... This will only increase discomfort and may lead to further irritation of the inflamed area. Read about the best way to rinse a tooth that hurts by following the link. However, you need to understand that if the cavity in which the inflammatory process is located is closed with a filling or crown, then these remedies will not bring any relief.
“For four nights in a row, my sister swallowed tablets for toothache, 2 at a time (instead of 1, as recommended in the instructions), and in the morning she ran to class as if nothing had happened. I didn’t go to the doctor because... I thought that pills could solve the problem, but that was not the case, she developed a terrible allergy from an overdose. As a result, I sat at home for a week and didn’t show my nose to the street, because... there was a rash on my face and hands... So I think that modern painkillers are a real evil. It’s better to go to the doctor right away than to suffer like this later.”
Anastasia M, fragment of a review from the site woman.ru
If the discomfort is caused by the eruption of a wisdom tooth, then you can apply a local gel, for example, Metrogyl, to the gums. The remedy will help relieve the condition for a short time.
Before you go back to bed, prepare your sleeping area properly. Take a large pillow or raise the one you have so that your head resting on it is elevated relative to your body - this will help prevent a strong rush of blood to the head and compression of the nerve endings. Applying a cold compress to the cheek for 15-20 minutes will help ensure blood flow from the inflamed area and relieve swelling.
What are wisdom teeth?
Dentists and scientists call them a vestigial organ, the need for which disappeared when people learned to heat food. Eights, like all other human teeth, consist of roots, a neck and a crown, but despite this they have certain anatomical features.
Here are the main differences:
- they are only indigenous and do not come in milk;
- their eruption is often accompanied by pain;
- have a larger number of roots - from 2 to 5;
- bent and twisted roots.
What you should absolutely not do
- warm the inflamed area: heat leads to the progression of infection, breakthrough of pus into deeper layers of tissue and even its spread to internal organs in purulent-inflammatory dental diseases,
- drink alcohol
- put crushed Aspirin or Analgin into the carious cavity,
- rinse your mouth with potassium permanganate or alcohol solutions, vinegar, tincture with propolis and pepper: this can cause a burn to the mucous membrane, and propolis contains sugars, which can increase the number of harmful bacteria,
- pull out teeth on your own or “open” existing fillings, try to remove artificial crowns if it hurts under them.
You should use lotions with essential oils with caution, because... they may cause an allergic reaction.
As for garlic and onions, rinsing with decoctions of these natural products is also not recommended, because they can cause irritation of the inflamed and swollen mucous membrane. However, as an alternative method, if nothing else helps, you can apply garlic to your wrist - it is safe, and, as some Internet users claim, it sometimes helps reduce the intensity of pain.
Dental consultation
Careful dental care and regular visits to the dentist are the key to good health. Inexpensive dental treatment and effective treatment results at the ARTE-S center ensures excellent condition of the dental system for each client. The dentist finds the triggering factors for night pain and offers the patient an optimal treatment regimen.
- In pulpitis, when there is aching discomfort or throbbing tenderness, the unit is opened and the pathological tissue is removed. An x-ray is taken. The photo will show the shape and length of the canals. After cleaning them, a filling is installed.
- Acute pain accompanies periodontitis, especially with mechanical loads. After professional cleaning, drug therapy and sanitation are prescribed; radical measures and prosthetics may be required.
- Dull, unpleasant sensations are characteristic of periodontal disease. To remove the symptoms of the disease and improve tissue nutrition, you first need to cure caries, remove dental plaque, and carry out medication and physical therapy. Ultrasound and splinting are also used, and operations are prescribed according to indications.
Instant pain is characteristic of injured masticatory organs. In case of dislocation, therapy is prescribed and splinting structures are applied. If the pulp is dead, endodontic treatment is necessary. When a crown is fractured, it is restored using inlays, artificial crowns, and composite materials. When the root is fractured, most often the unit is removed and a pin is installed.
