Nighttime is when we look forward to a restful and peaceful sleep. Imagine working throughout the day, looking forward to deep sleep, only for your teeth to hurt at night. Many people often complain that their teeth hurt only at night, not during the day. This might cause you to question, ‘Why does my tooth hurt at night?’
There are multiple factors that could result in a toothache at night. Your dentist can help you treat tooth pain fast after diagnosing the cause. In this blog, we’ll get you familiar with different reasons why your tooth hurts at night.
Reasons Your Tooth Might Hurt at Night
Your tooth pain might become worse at night. This is because your blood pressure might increase when you lie down to sleep, pushing against the nerves and blood supply to your teeth. Consequently, you experience an unbearable toothache at night. A list of causes of your tooth pain at night is given below:
1. Lying Down
When you lie down to sleep, your head comes at the same level as your limbs, lungs, and heart. This might cause a rush of blood toward your face, mouth, sinuses, and brain. Thus, the sensitive areas in your mouth might get triggered as the blood pressure presses on your mouth. Other than this, lying down also makes us more aware of sinus pressure. Hence, congestions, allergies, or sinus infections could cause toothache at night too.
2. Teeth Grinding
Many people grind their teeth, usually unconsciously. Constantly clenching your jaw and grinding your teeth strain the tiny ligaments holding your tooth roots in place. The ligaments can become sore and cause pain that feels like a toothache due to teeth grinding. Your dentist might recommend sleeping with a night guard to resolve this issue.
3. Cavities
When tooth decay progresses, it can lead to cavities in your teeth. You might experience throbbing tooth pain that comes and goes if you have a cavity. This is because tooth decay usually doesn’t hurt constantly. Instead, you might feel a sharp pain randomly, like when your tooth comes in contact with a trigger. So if you feel the cavity symptoms, such as pain radiating from a specific part of your tooth, consult your dentist. Large and deep cavities could lead to a tooth abscess or infections if left untreated. As a result, your tooth will possibly hurt at night. Furthermore, you might notice a bump on the gums if the decay is deep. Another reason you feel cavity pain at night is that you have things on your mind throughout the day. At night, we relax, and nothing distracts us from the tooth pain.
Depending on your condition, the dentist might recommend a filling, a root canal, or any other dental treatment. Also, keep in mind that there are other causes of throbbing tooth pain.
4. Gum Recession
Unbearable tooth pain might just be a symptom of receding gums. When your gums pull away, it exposes your tooth roots. This can cause a toothache at night that something as simple as drinking cold water or brushing your teeth can trigger. Don’t waste a minute in consulting your oral health care provider if you suspect gum recession. They’ll recommend different gum disease treatments based on your case, like gum graft.
5. Damaged Tooth or Dental Appliance
Sharp pain in the tooth might be because of a crack. Cracked teeth usually don’t show symptoms unless you apply pressure to the affected area. Furthermore, broken dental appliances can also be the reason for a hurting tooth at night.
What to Do?
If your tooth hurts at night or during the day, don’t ignore it. There could be underlying issues like cavities, gum recession, cracked teeth, etc. This is why you need to visit our experts at Brookshire Family Dental to improve your oral health. You can book an appointment with us at (979) 330-4113. Or you can visit us at 2300 7th Street, Bay City, TX 77414.