Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Toothache and Headache- what is the relation?

Toothache and Headache- what is the relation?
Ever noticed getting headache after dental treatment or associated with dental problems yes they are linked together completely. It is observed that toothache and headache are always associated or we should say it is toothache that gives rise to headache. The teeth are responsible for causing referred pain which means giving sensation of pain in completely different site which is not affected by any physical or medical condition. This doesn't always mean that your problematic tooth would give pain sensation only in head but it could be anywhere else in body. This behavior makes the diagnosis of exact problem difficult. This also makes the things difficult for your dentist to track down the actual problematic teeth for treatment. When a tooth experiences decay in the bottom it often produces pain in the mouth but when the decaying prolongs and it starts infecting the root of the teeth it creates pain sensation around the neck and head. In medical terms this is called as apical abscess that results in headache.


Another cause for toothache headache is the function and susceptibility to the trigeminal nerve that is situated in the brain and is a kind of sensory nerve to transmit signals weight according to height of senses to the lower upper jaw and face towards the center in brain. This nerve also has loads of branches going out to various regions of face and upper neck. When there is problem in one tooth the signal is transferred by the particular branch which is highly sensitive towards pain and other sensory aspects. It transcribes the pain signal in a confused manner due to which brain interprets the signal as pain in all the areas covered by the trigeminal nerve. The brain fails to differentiate between the pain and thereby gives impression of toothache and headache to the person. In the case of apical abscess in tooth it exerts pressure on the surrounding gums and tissues. This sensation is transcribed by the trigeminal nerve and if this nerve is damaged due to some reason brain fails to interpret the signal and it gives sensation in face m neck and temple which is considered as headache by the person.


It could be other way round which means often the headache caused by anxiety or tension gives feeling of pain in tooth. As the tension headache covers areas near cheek bones, cartilage of nose and surrounding portion one might take it as toothache when it is a simple headache. There are many more theories to related toothache and headache but the thing to consider is detection of actual problem and wise treatment. In most cases a complete dental checkup and filling or treating the abscess would do good on both the types of pain.










No comments:

Post a Comment