A simple tooth ache can rapidly progress to an uncomfortable pulsating pain in your jawbone. This is due to the connection of nerves, deep connections and infection in your mouth. Understanding how your teeth connect to your jaw and nerve connections will help you identify any dental problems that may be developing and help you seek professional assistance quickly.

How Are the Nerves in Your Mouth and Face Connected?

There are many nerves found throughout the mouth and face. These nerves help us to feel sensations such as heat, pressure and pain. The main nerve that sends pain from your teeth and jaw to your brain is the trigeminal nerve.

What Is the Trigeminal Nerve?

The trigeminal nerve is the largest nerve found inside your head. It has 3 major branches:

  • Maxillary branch – Provides sensation to upper teeth, roof of your mouth and upper jaw.

  • Mandibular branch – Provides sensation to your bottom teeth, jaw, tongue and chin.

Both of these nerves will transmit sensory information to a nerve bundle known as the trigeminal ganglion.

How Does Radiating Pain Occur?

  • Trauma or infection in your tooth will cause intense sensory signals to be transmitted through the nerves in the root of your tooth along the trigeminal nerve.

  • These intense signals confuse your central nervous system.

  • Sensory signals become overwhelmed and transfer to neighboring nerves.

  • Your brain does not know exactly where the pain is coming from so you will feel pain in the whole of your jaw.

This is known as referred pain by doctors.

What Are the Common Reasons for Radiating Jaw Pain?

Damage to your teeth can cause pain to radiate to your jawbone. If left untreated the damage can progress causing the surrounding tissue to become affected.

Can Severe Dental Caries and Pulpitis Cause Jaw Pain?

Dental caries occur when there is damage to the outside of your tooth. As the decay progresses and reaches the dentin layer, it will cause damage to the inner chamber of your tooth known as the dental pulp.

This chamber will become infected with microscopic bacteria causing localized inflammation.

The intense inflammation will cause pressure on blood vessels and sensitive nerves within the root of your tooth.

As pressure builds pain signals will be transmitted from the tip of the tooth root to the surrounding jawbone.

Severe infection in the pulp will cause constant severe throbbing pain throughout the jaw.

Can a Dental Abscess Cause Pain in Your Jaw?

If tooth infection goes untreated a pocket of pus will develop. This will develop at the tip of the tooth root in the alveolar jawbone.

The pressure will build up in the hard jawbone as the liquid pus has nowhere to go.

This will cause the tissue around the tip of the tooth root to start to break down due to the bacteria.

This will cause neighboring nerves in the jaw to become inflamed.

Patients will experience referred pain in the face, severe pain in the jaw and swelling in the face.

Can Broken or Cracked Teeth Cause Jaw Pain?

Deep cracks in your teeth will cause damage to the structure. The nerves inside your teeth will be exposed to pressure from chewing.

  • Chewing will cause the broken pieces of your teeth to move slightly.

  • This will cause micro shocks of severe pain in the dental nerve.

  • Constant pressure will cause pain to radiate down to the supporting joints in your jaw.

Hidden fractures can cause mysterious pain throughout your jaw.

Can Impacted Wisdom Teeth Cause Jaw Pain?

Wisdom teeth (3rd molars) erupt at the back of your mouth during late adolescence or early adulthood. Often there is not enough room in your jaws so your teeth will become impacted.

How Does Pressure on Molars and Bone Cause Jaw Pain?

Your impacted wisdom tooth will put pressure on neighboring molar roots or become trapped in your jaw.

  • This causes chronic pressure and causes the surrounding jawbone to become inflamed.

  • Trapped teeth create perfect conditions for harmful bacteria to grow.

  • This will cause inflammation to spread through the nerves in your mandibular arch.

Patients will feel constant pressure in the back of their jaw.

What Is Pericoronitis and How Does It Cause Jaw Pain?

Wisdom teeth often erupt partially causing small folds of gum over the biting surface. Food and bacteria can become trapped underneath.

This will cause localized infection known as pericoronitis.

This will cause rapid infection to spread from the gums into your cheek and jaw muscles.

Patients will have trouble opening their mouths and will experience referred pain in the lower jaw.

Immediate irrigation and antibiotics can help treat this infection.

Can Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Disorders Cause Jaw Pain?

Your jaw connects to your skull using 2 complex joints in front of your ears. This is known as the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).

How Does TMJ Cause Radiating Pain?

This joint uses a complex balance between bones, cartilage discs and facial muscles. Problems can occur which can cause severe tooth like pain.

  • Bruxism and clenching will cause excessive pressure on your jaw joints.

  • Over worked muscles will cause painful spasms which will radiate down to your teeth.

  • Misaligned bites will cause your jaw joints to move abnormally when chewing.

  • Inflammation in the joint capsule will cause pain in the nerves connected to your lower teeth.

How Can You Identify Symptoms of TMJ?

Identifying symptoms can help your dentist identify the main cause of your pain.

  • TMJ disorders will cause clicking, popping and grinding noises.

  • Tooth infection will cause sharp sensitivity to hot and cold.

  • Muscle pain in your jaw will get worse after waking up due to bruxism at night.

  • Infections will cause constant throbbing pain which gets worse with pressure.

What Are the Complications of Leaving Tooth and Jaw Pain Untreated?

Leaving tooth pain to radiate to your jaw can cause serious problems. Infections will not clear up without professional help.

Can Bacterial Infection Spread from Your Teeth to Your Jaw?

  • Microscopic bacteria from a deep tooth abscess can travel through bone barriers and cause infection in blood vessels and soft tissues in your face.

  • Bacteria can spread to the deep spaces in your neck causing severe obstruction to your airway.

  • Infections can enter veins in your face and travel towards your brain.

  • This can cause systemic infection and cause a dangerous reaction in your body known as sepsis.

Antibiotics and surgery can help prevent any dangerous complications.

Can Tooth and Jaw Pain Cause Neuralgia?

Prolonged inflammation can cause damage to your nerve fibers.

Long term pressure on your nerves will cause constant nerve pain known as trigeminal neuralgia.

Damage to your nerves will cause constant burning pain in your jaw, cheek and lip.

Relief of pressure early will help keep your nerves intact and prevent chronic pain.

How Are Tooth and Jaw Pain Professionally Diagnosed and Treated?

Diagnosis can be clearly identified using specialist techniques. Dentists will use advanced technology to identify the source of your referred pain.

Which Diagnostic Techniques Can Dentists Use?

Dentists will use clear methods to help diagnose your tooth and jaw pain.

  • Digital x-rays – Can show the internal structure of your teeth, health of the root and density of your jaw.

  • 3D CBCT scans – Provide clear images of complex nerves.

  • Thermal testing – Tests sensory nerves in the pulp.

  • Palpation – Can identify painful muscles in the jaw, swollen lymph nodes and inflamed bone.

What Treatments Can Help Relieve Tooth and Jaw Pain?

Treatments will aim to remove active infection, relieve pressure on the nerves and bring your teeth back into balance.

  • Root canal – Removes infected pulp while keeping your natural teeth.

  • Extraction – Removes teeth which cannot be saved to prevent infection spreading to the bone.

  • Night-guards – Custom made to relieve pressure in your jaw joints by preventing bruxism.

  • Antibiotics – Prescribed to help clear up infection spreading throughout your mouth.

How Can You Prevent Referred Pain in Your Jaw?

Keeping your oral hygiene good can help prevent decay and gum disease from affecting your nerves.

  • Brush your teeth twice a day using fluoridated toothpaste and a soft bristled brush.

  • Floss or use inter-dental brushes daily to clean between your teeth.

  • Visit your dentist every 6 months for a check up and cleaning.

  • Use a custom mouth-guard during contact sports.

  • Avoid eating very hard foods such as ice and un-popped popcorn kernels.

Visiting your dentist as soon as you experience any discomfort in your teeth will help protect your teeth, jawbone and prevent pain spreading. Early treatment will stop active infection and ensure your mouth stays healthy.