The link between your toothache and headache

Manjula Ramakrishnan

“Toothaches can cause overwhelming pain and discomfort. But if this happens at the same time as you’re experiencing a headache, chances are these two could be linked,” says Dr Tareq Y. Shabani, cosmetic and medical dentist at Aesthetics by King’s College Hospital Dubai.

Dr Shabani speaks to Panorama about the possible connection between tooth pain and headaches and recommends ways to alleviate it.

What are some of the common causes of a toothache?

There are several reasons for a toothache. It could be from inflammation in the nerve of a tooth caused by cavities; the pain can also be as a result of advanced gum disease, or a cracked tooth that was left untreated for some time. Also, there are other factors that can be the root cause of dental discomfort, and this includes clenching and grinding, which leads to muscle pain and soreness in the jaw. Clenching, and grinding your teeth, also known as Bruxism, is a habit that affects a lot of people worldwide and in most cases they might not realise this, until they wake up with a sore jaw and teeth.

Dr Tareq Y. Shabani, cosmetic and medical dentist at Aesthetics by King’s College Hospital Dubai.

In what ways can a headache be triggered by a person's oral health?

Overall, any pain in the body could lead to a headache. Due to the proximity of the trigeminal nerve, tooth pain, gum disease, TMJ soreness or sinus congestion, leads to a higher incidence for the occurrence of a headache.

There are two types of pain – dull pain and sharp pain – while sharp pain is the one that’s more related to the tooth nerve inflammation, dull pain is more related to the gums, the temporomandibular joint, muscles associated and/or sinus inflammation. Any of these types of head and neck pain can lead to a headache through the trigeminal nerve, which provides sensation to most parts of the face including the teeth, and gums.

Which areas are mostly affected?

Most of the headaches that are experienced due to a toothache always occur on the same side of the aching tooth. For instance, the dull ache that lasts for a long time, is more related to the Temporomandibular joint (TMJ muscles). So, if you have TMJ problem, or if your muscles are sore due to clenching and grinding, then this could lead to pain that radiates and causes not just a headache, but also back, neck and ear aches. But if you’re experiencing a sharper pain relating directly to a tooth, then the headache is localised in one area, and it’s more short-lived. 

What are the treatment options for toothaches that lead to headaches?

The treatment would definitely be to treat the underlying trigger that is causing the headache. If you resolve the tooth, gum, TMJ or sinus pain, then the headache will be resolved. For instance, if you have pulpitis, which is inflammation of the nerves of the tooth, then the headache can go away if the offending tooth is treated. So, when a patient comes in and says I have a headache on the right side, we check and see if there's any causative agent in the oral cavity like sore muscles and joints, tooth cavities, and gum disease. If none of these are present, then the patient has to be referred to a neurologist or another specialist for conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia. But if the cause is in the oral cavity, then we treat this underlying cause or sometimes a simple deep clean and rinse for gum disease and gum problems.

What are the precautions one can take?

The best precaution is definitely to have good oral health. This includes visiting the dentist every six months, clean and floss at least twice a day. And finally, have regular follow-ups or checks ups. It's as simple as that. So, if you maintain these, and eat the right foods, then your oral health will not suffer, meaning you won’t get toothache-triggered headaches.

The bottom line is that due to the proximity of the oral cavity to the head, any pain from the mouth could radiate to the head. But then again, it's not a direct link that when you have a toothache you automatically will have a headache. Sometimes you can have a toothache and a headache at the same time, but they might not be related. The headache could be as a result of something totally different, meaning there is no direct link.

At the end of the day, in order to get the correct diagnosis and to find a treatment sooner, you have to see a certified dentist, who will examine you, and prescribe a mode of treatment. Self-medicating is not advisable.