Question: What is dental nerve pain and how is it different from other toothache?
Explanation: Dental nerve pain, more precisely pain of pulpal origin, arises from the nerve tissue inside the tooth. It is characteristically sharp, severe, poorly localised, and radiating. Patients often cannot identify which tooth hurts, because the pulp has no proprioceptive fibres. It may refer to the ear, temple, or opposite jaw. This distinguishes it from periapical pain, which is well localised and tender to tapping, because the periodontal ligament does possess proprioceptors. Nerve pain that lingers, is spontaneous, or wakes the patient indicates irreversible pulpitis.
Related Questions:
Why can’t I tell which tooth is hurting?
The dental pulp contains only nociceptive nerve fibres and lacks proprioceptors, so the brain cannot localise the signal. Once inflammation spreads to the periodontal ligament, which does have proprioceptors, the pain becomes sharply localised and the tooth becomes tender to tapping.
Can dental nerve pain radiate to my ear?
Yes, frequently. The trigeminal nerve supplies both the teeth and structures around the ear and temple, and the brain misinterprets the source. Lower molars commonly refer to the ear, upper molars to the temple. An ear that hurts with no ear pathology should prompt dental examination.
Does a root canal remove the nerve permanently?
It removes the pulp tissue, including its nerve, from inside the tooth. The tooth then cannot feel hot, cold, or electrical stimuli. The periodontal ligament around the root retains its nerve supply, so the tooth can still feel pressure and can still hurt if infection develops.
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