If you’re dealing with a fair amount of facial pain, it can be hard to communicate what precisely it is that you’re feeling. Unfortunately, the worse that you feel, the harder it can be to help your dentist figure out why that might be.
There are a few conditions that can cause the kind of facial pain that constitutes a dental emergency. If you want to know more about them, and what could be causing your discomfort in particular, here’s are some possible culprits.
Sinus Infection
One of the causes of facial pain may not actually have anything to do with dentistry. Your sinuses run all over the face, and some of the largest ones are located directly next to the upper jaw. As a result, a sinus infection may feel like a toothache.
However, sinus infections will also be associated with other flu-like symptoms. Mucus is the major one, but a cough and fever are also to be expected.
Dental Abscess
Abscesses are painful, pus-filled lumps that arise as a result of infection. In the mouth, they are usually due to severe gum disease that has infiltrated within a tooth, or that has ravaged the gums.
Abscesses are remarkably uncomfortable, so much so that having one in your mouth may make you feel like your entire face is in pain. You may also be dealing with other symptoms that you associate with infection, like bad breath or a foul taste in your mouth. If you look carefully, you may even notice the abscess itself, though it’s also possible that it could be located too far back in your mouth actually see.
TMJ Disorder
Your jaw is unbelievably powerful, so it may surprise you to hear that it’s attached to your face by just two small joints located next to your ears. These are the temporomandibular joints, also known as the TMJ.
It’s possible for these small joints to fall out of alignment for several reasons, which causes what’s known as a TMJ disorder. This can cause chronic jaw pain when you open or close your mouth, along with clicking or popping. It can also be associated with some strange symptoms due to the jaw’s proximity to the inner ear, like nausea, vertigo, and migraines.
This is a short list of some of the most common conditions, but the fact is that there are plenty of things that could cause facial pain. Hopefully, this guide will make the conversation with your dentist a little bit easier.
About the Author
Dr. Mariya Barnett took over this dental office in February of 2017, and in the years since she has felt incredibly fortunate to be able to form close relationships with her patients based on integrity and trust. Dr. Barnett received her dental doctorate from the University of Michigan, and obtained her Advanced Education in General Dentistry from the Texas A&M Baylor College of Dentistry.
If you have any questions about facial pain, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (469) 874-0469.
