Why Does Water Relieve My Tooth Pain?

I have a tooth with a filling that has been hurting me like crazy. It does not hurt when I chew, but pretty much all the rest of the time. The one crazy thing that relieves the pain is cold water. But, it only helps for a little bit. Have you heard of this happening to someone before?

Casey

Dear Casey,

It sounds like you have some gangrenous tooth pulp. Your pulp inside that tooth is dying. Because of that, you will need a root canal treatment. Let’s talk about getting you out of pain first, and then I will explain why this is happening and what you need to do for a more permanent solution.

I would schedule an emergency dental appointment. The dentist can drill a small opening in the tooth that will relieve the pressure you are feeling. It is that pressure which is causing you so much pain.

How Did This Happen?

At some point, decay got inside your tooth. It’s most likely that it got there by sneaking under your filling. The decay continues to spread and then it reaches the pulp. The tissue inside the infected pulp begins to die creating what is known as a gangrenous pulp. This causes gases, which in turn increases the pressure on your tooth, giving you a nasty toothache. The cold water helped because it briefly shrunk the gasses. That shrinking relieved your pain temporarily.

Even though the hole will relieve your pain, it does not cure your tooth infection. It will be very important that you follow up with a root canal treatment so that the infection is dealt with once and for all. Leaving it will cause it to continue to spread. People still die from untreated tooth infections. This is heartbreaking because the cure is so simple.

Dealing with Dental Anxiety

Sometimes patients avoid the dentist even in emergency situations because of dental anxiety. Most often, this occurs when they’ve had a traumatic experience at the dentists. We want to take that worry away from you. If you need dental care but have anxiety, I want to suggest you find an endodontist who offers dental sedation. They can provide you with a medication that can completely relax you and give you a pain free appointment.

This blog is brought to you by San Antonio Endodontist Dr. Scott Janse.