A sudden toothache started last night.What could have caused this?

Question

Hello doctor,

A sudden toothache started last night in the front left tooth. It is really painful this morning. The pain is constant. I have attached a picture of the affected tooth. What could have caused this?

Answer 1

Hello,

I have gone through the attached picture (attachment removed to protect patient identity). The tooth is nonvital (dead) and therefore it is discolored.

This usually happens if you had got your tooth injured in any accident, months or years ago.

Even slight injuries to the tooth long before, result in nerves getting necrotised inside the tooth.

You should visit a dentist and undergo root canal treatment for the affected tooth.

The dentist will place a permanent crown (cap) over the root canal treated tooth.

For the time being take a strong pain killer and an antibiotic.

I would suggest you to take capsule Amoxicillin 500mg thrice daily for 5 days.

Anyways visit a dentist as early as possible because, after pain the next complication is swelling in the affected due to pus generation.

Take care.

Consult a dentist online for further clarifications.