Toothache hurts so much.......Reason and Remedies ???

Whether you are experiencing a toothache now, have experienced a toothache in the past or are hoping to avoid a toothache in the future, your teeth will benefit very much from a routine of good dental hygiene and regular check-ups at the dentist or dental hygienist.

It has been said that a toothache is the most intense pain that can be experienced. Surprisingly, Teeth only feel pain. There are no other tooth feelings. If a nerve happens to be exposed in there, everything is pain. Cold is pain. Warm is pain. Wet is pain. Touch is pain. There's just nothing else and that's a pretty unique situation in the human body. In fact, a really bad toothache can feel like your head is exploding.

Why toothache is extremely painful?

The face and head, including your teeth, are richly served by the nervous system and make for an exquisitely sensitive and responsive anatomic region.

The mouth and jaw are hooked directly to the ​trigeminal nerve, which is one of several cranial nerves: nerves that link directly to the brain rather than link to the spinal cord. So, teeth are linked up to a nervous short-circuit of sorts. ​Additionally, your teeth have an abundance of neural connections to the pain centers in the brain. This seems to amplify the noxious “distress signals.”

Why a toothache hurts so bad

When your finger is infected, it normally swells up because of your body’s own immune response. This is possible because the tissues in your finger are relatively soft and flexible. When you have an infection in a tooth, the immune response is the same – but a tooth cannot swell up the same way as a finger can. The infection is caught inside the hard tissues of the tooth, causing a very large pressure. This is the reason for the intense toothache. When the pressure gets too high, the infection will start to work it’s way out of the tooth through the root and into the surrounding bone structure. From here it will continue to push it’s way out through the hard tissues. At this point the toothache is especially painful. Eventually you might develop an abscess, which can normally be seen in the mouth around the area of the root of the tooth which is infected. Sometimes the abscess is even outside the mouth under the chin.

When the abscess bursts, the pressure is off and many people feel an instant relief from the toothache. This does not mean that the problem is solved, however. The reason for the toothache - the infection - is still there and treatment is necessary.

What can be done about a toothache?

There are only two ways of treating an infected tooth effectively. The simple solution is to pull out the tooth but ideally it’s not advisable if you have restorable tooth. Since most people feel that it is best to keep their teeth as long as possible, however, the more common and preferred treatment - when possible - is root canal therapy. There may be a need to combine the treatment with medication to control the infection.

Art of restoring a badly decayed/fractured teeth

A post and core is a prosthetic device that is recommended when there is inadequate tooth structure remaining to support a traditional restoration or an artificial crown.

Post and core procedure is painless and does not even require local anesthesia as the tooth has long been dead after the root canal treatment. A post and core can only be made for a tooth that has had root canal treatment.

Some posts are ready made, whereas others are made in the laboratory especially to fit the tooth.

Why are post and cores needed ?

A great deal of dental crown stability depends on the amount of tooth structure that extends into its interior. If very little tooth structure occupies this space, the crown will be easily dislodged, especially by forces directed at its side.

Basically, the core is rebuilding the tooth so it is closer to its original dimensions. Hence, the crown's stability will greatly increase, and therefore its long-term chances for success are maximized.

                                              

Is a post always needed ?

A dental post is generally recognized as just an aid in helping to anchor a dental core to a tooth.

As a rule of thumb, if more than half of a tooth's original crown portion has been lost, a post is needed to assist in anchoring the core to the tooth. If more than half still remains, a core by itself (which basically means a direct build up with composite materials) will probably suffice.

Factors to be considered in making the decision to use a post

Many have stated that the main reason for placing a post is to strengthen the connection between the coronal build-up material and remaining tooth structure to the root portion of the tooth. In my opinion, that is only partially true. Additionally, the following potentially negative or positive factors should be considered in the decision to use a post. All of these factors should be observed before making the decision:

• Quantity of remaining tooth structure

• Quality of remaining tooth structure

• Remaining adjacent teeth

• Occlusion

• Planned restoration to be placed on the tooth

When is a post and core not indicated ?

There are certain conditions that make the use of a post and core device inadvisable :

·         Intense pain, gingival bleeding, suppuration, advance infections, tooth abscesses etc. These situations will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and the post and core should be placed with the greatest caution.

·         Tooth shows advance mobility. Mobility is an indicator of bone loss around the tooth and it should be evaluated on a dental X-ray as well.

·         When the tooth crown is severely damaged (especially when the tooth is fractured bellow the gumline) and the remaining part of the tooth is not strong enough to support the post.

                                              

Structure

A post and core consists of two parts :

·         The post

The post is a small rod, usually metal/carbon fiber, which is inserted into the root space of the tooth and protrudes from the root a couple of millimetres. The post is then used to hold the core, or a filling in place.

Because the post is inserted into the root canal, a post and core can only be made for a tooth that has had root canal treatment.

·         The core

The core replaces missing tooth structure in preparation for making a new dental crown. Normally, a dental core can be directly built up from composite materials without a post to hold it in place.

However, a dental post can be used to help to anchor the core to the tooth. In this case, the core is generally made off metal alloys and the device is called post and core.

The core is then utilized to hold a dental crown in place. The crown can be a single unit crown or a retainer crown for a dental bridge.

Success rates

The procedure is successful in over 90% of cases.

Potential risks

·         Tooth fracture

·         Root fracture

·         Root canal failure (it is difficult to repeat root canal treatment once the post is in place)

·         Post coming out

·         Post protruding through the side of the root (this is a particular risk if the root is curved)

After Dental Post And Core

Post procedure care                                                       

Patients should avoid eating on the crown, following a post and core procedure. Certain foods, such as hard or chewy sweets, should be avoided as the crown could become loose.

Possible discomfort

Some minor discomfort to be expected after this procedure, but this can be easily controlled with normal painkillers.