You probably know urgent oral issues can involve toothaches. After all, it’s only natural that dental damage makes your teeth sore. However, were you aware some dental emergencies can cause facial pain? Many find this fact surprising, though facial muscles relate to your mouth. Still, it can be unclear when a pained face points to a dental emergency. Luckily, your Kent dentist can make finding out easier. Here are three urgent oral problems that cause face pain and how emergency dentistry helps.
Which Dental Emergencies Involve Facial Pain?
Not all facial pain stems from dental issues. Such aches often result from sinus problems, stress, and similar factors. That said, pain in your face can point to a dental emergency at times. The most common of these oral dilemmas are:
Dental Abscess
Put simply, a dental abscess is an infection of your tooth’s pulp. It occurs when bacteria reach a pearly white’s nerves and blood vessels. This spread is usually due to tooth decay, gum disease, or injury.
Aside from facial pain, signs of a dental abscess include:
- Sensitive teeth or gums
- Red, swollen gum tissue
- A bad taste in your mouth
- A fever
Dry Socket
If your facial pain happens soon after a tooth is pulled, you may have a dry socket. This condition refers to when blood doesn’t clot at your extraction site. As that happens, nerves and bone tissue can be exposed.
Ultimately, dry socket symptoms are obvious. The biggest one is the visible loss of a blood clot around the extraction site. From there, other signs range from persistent pain after the extraction to a foul taste in your mouth.
Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD)
Occasionally, pain in your face is caused by changes to your temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Problems that affect this structure are known as temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD).
The symptoms of TMD are the following:
- Pain in or around your jaw
- Limited jaw mobility
- Clicking sounds when opening or closing your jaw
- Misaligned bite
- Swelling
- Fatigue
How Emergency Dentistry Can Help
Dental emergencies don’t solve themselves; they persist and worsen if left unchecked. Therefore, seeing your emergency dentist for oral-related facial pain is a good idea.
A qualified dentist has many ways to treat oral problems that hurt your face. For instance, they could perform root canal therapy to treat your abscess and save your tooth. A dentist might also flush out your dry socket to remove food debris and promote healing. Many dental providers even offer therapy for TMD.
Ultimately, dental emergencies that cause facial pain deserve your attention. Remember the ones above so you’ll be ready should your face get achy.
About the Practice
Complete Dental Care is based in Kent, WA. Led by Drs. Manpreet Dhaliwal, Navi Dhaliwal, and Donald Hainer, our practice emphasizes comprehensive dentistry for all ages. To that end, we offer preventive, cosmetic, and restorative services, as well as dental emergency care. Regarding the latter field, our team can perform procedures like root canal therapy and tooth extractions. For more information or to book a visit, you can reach us on our website or by phone at (253)-854-2714.