If so, you are dealing with one of the most excruciating and unbearable types of pain out there. Most people can only deal with it for a short period of time.

Most people have endured tooth pain at some point in their lives. It can be a minor annoying ache to the intense, unbearable pain that requires immediate attention, and those that suffer from chronic tooth pain without any underlying dental problem sometimes think that there is no relief available.

The good news is that there are toothache remedies out there, and they treat the pain. But to find out the “root” of the problem — the cause of the toothache in the first place – you must see a dentist.

What Causes Tooth Pain?
What is tooth pain? Some tooth pain is caused by a dental problem and can be felt in the tooth, or sometimes in the jaws and surrounding area. Decay, a crack or fractured tooth, a cavity, an exposed root or possibly gum disease can be the reason why you are suffering from pain. By visiting a family dentist and having the appropriate treatment administered, such as an extraction or filling.

There are times when pain may not be caused by a dental problem at all. Many people do not realize that pain in the teeth or surrounding area may be caused by certain heart diseases or conditions, like angina or cardiac arrest. Also, some children will tell you that they have teeth pain when their ears or sinus are actually the problem. Even more, some people have nerve problems that cause teeth pain.

Although the best option is to visit the dentist, you can relieve pain by taking medication like acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Ibuprofen has the added benefit of reducing swelling so it can help with some types of tooth pain and infection. Also, there are topical treatments like Oral gel can help numb areas.

If you are experiencing tooth pain, visit us at Wayzata Dental & SmileSpa. Our dentist, Dr. Jason McDowell, and staff will help take care of your problem and get you back to normal – pain free. Our office is inviting for all ages, and we have many conveniences to make your dental visit soothing.

A recent research has identified three main kinds of smile. Each of these signals different types of emotion.

The Mona Lisa: The corners of the mouth are pulled up and out, and the upper lip is raised to show the upper teeth. The most attractive Mona Lisa smile shows all top teeth and about two millimeters of the gums. Almost two-thirds of the people smile like this. For most people, the Mona Lisa smile is considered the most attractive.

The Canine: The way this looks: A wide lip smile and then full teeth are exposed. One-third of the people smile this way.

The Full Denture Smile: All of the upper and lower lip work overtime to expose the whole teeth – a little awkward. This is a rare smile – not many people are comfortable with this smile especially if their teeth aren’t the whitest.

However, there are fake smiles too. How do you know the difference?

The most noticeable giveaway is from the eyes, which will squint, crinkle up and become narrower when the smile is genuine. On the contrary, the eyes will remain the same and unaffected when someone is smiling falsely to hide away their emotions. Basically, when someone is truly smiling from the heart, the facial muscles around the eyes cannot be brought under conscious control by the mind. This is how experts can tell if you are telling a lie.

So, next time someone smiles at you, think about it. Was it a Mina Lisa, a Canine or a Full Denture? Maybe it was a fake smile.

Now you are the expert at smiles. Does your smile need some work? Contact us at Wayzata Dental and SmileSpa. We are experts at perfecting smiles at our signature SmileSpa. Contact us online or call us for an appointment!

Why are teeth removed? Teeth are removed or extracted for a variety of reasons such as decay, infection and to make room for other teeth.

Your family dentist may want to remove impacted teeth that are partially erupted because bacteria can enter the area and later cause an infection. The infection can reach into the bone and become serious. Many people don’t realize that an impacted tooth will force itself through the gum tissue even if there is not enough room for it later damaging the roots of nearby teeth. Removing a tooth that is impacted may prevent these problems plus pain.

Your medical and dental history, as well as appropriate X-rays, will be taken into account before a tooth is extracted. The physical appearance of the tooth and surrounding bone is very important and will show the dentist the degree of difficulty of the dental procedure, and whether he needs to call on the help of an oral surgeon.

For simple extractions, the dentist will anesthetize the tooth and then loosen the tooth with the help of a tool called an elevator. Finally, the tooth may be extracted with dental forceps.

Your dentist will probably prescribe you some pain killer and recommend that you apply an ice compress to the face. You should limit strenuous activity and avoid hot liquids and drinking through a straw. Pain should lessen within a few days to two weeks at the latest. If the discomfort lasts longer than that timeframe, let your dentist know as soon as possible. You may be experiencing something else such as an infection.

If you are experiencing pain in your teeth and need to consult a dentist as soon as possible, contact Wayzata Dental and SmileSpa. Dr. Jason McDowell and the rest of our staff will make your dental visit comfortable and well-informed. You can make a dental appointment online or by phone. We hope to see you.

Anthropologists believe wisdom teeth, or the third set of molars, were due to rough-diets of early people. They dined on food such as nuts, roots and coarse meats. Humans needed to have more chewing power then, and the wisdom teeth served that purpose.

Today, our diets make it easy to chew, and there’s no need for our teeth to overwork. We have tools such as forks and knives to help cut large portions of meat into small, bite-size pieces. As a result, evolutionary biologists now classify wisdom teeth, which erupt around ages 17 and 25, as functionless body parts due to evolution.

But why do we need them removed? Humans now have smaller jaws, and because of this, wisdom teeth can often be impacted by other teeth around them. Also, wisdom teeth can partially erupt allowing food to get trapped in the gum tissue leading to bacteria growth and infection.

Wisdom teeth may not erupt either. If this happens, it could be a problem because it may cause crowding or displacement of permanent teeth. Cysts can form in the soft tissue surrounding the impacted wisdom tooth and cause bone destruction, jaw expansion or damage to the other teeth.

If you have wisdom teeth and want them removed, talk with your family dentist. Your dentist will give you an idea of the procedure at-hand. Although you can get those pesky teeth out at any age, it would be wiser on your part to have them removed when you are younger. Younger patients seem to have less complications and a quicker recovery.

There are a number of issues related to wisdom teeth, the first and most noticeable being the degree of difficulty a dentist has in reaching them. Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to erupt in the mouth and they do so at the very end of the gum line. Wisdom teeth do grow at crazy angles as they try to find room to maneuver and erupt. You have also got to look at a wisdom tooth’s anatomy to understand some of the problems faced by dentists.

Your wisdom teeth have several roots with the lower wisdom teeth having two roots while the upper wisdom teeth have three. A wisdom tooth’s roots can often develop in directions to each other, and this can make extractions somewhat difficult. The tooth itself has been known to fully develop below the gum line and parallel to the jaw bone. These extractions used to take a lot of time, and often discomfort.

Today, wisdom tooth extractions are much easier. Dentists can easily break a wisdom tooth into smaller pieces making for a much easier extraction. The process involves less discomfort and leaves a much smaller wound in the gum. Removal of errant wisdom teeth is important as they can severely impact on other teeth causing overcrowding and twisting. Don’t view the removal of wisdom teeth in terror, you’ll be surprised at how easy some dental procedures are today.

Unfortunately, wisdom teeth have earned a bad rap over the years. This is because, in a small number of people, the tooth doesn’t erupt properly. There are a number of reasons for this, the most common being lack of room. There’s only so much room in a person’s mouth, so those last teeth struggle to find the space to come through. This can cause the tooth to grow on an angle, sometimes parallel to the jawbone in stead of vertically to line up with your teeth. This is known as an ‘impacted’ wisdom tooth. In the past, these have been very difficult to remove and often caused a lot of discomfort to patients.

While that situation was true in the past, impacted wisdom teeth are not that difficult to deal with now. Dentists have developed techniques where, for example, they can break the impacted wisdom tooth into small pieces. This makes it easy for removal and doesn’t cause as much damage to the gums as a normal extraction would. For many people, the tooth is partially visible and can be removed in much the same way as a normal tooth.

If your dentist suggests there’s a problem with a wisdom tooth, don’t worry, they can remove it easily. Depending on how it is impacted, it could be removed with minimal impact. Talk to your dentist about the procedure and forget the old wives tales from the past – dentistry has moved on from there.

Teeth are referred to as primary (baby teeth) or permanent (adult teeth). They can also be divided into maxillary referring to upper teeth and mandibular referring to lower teeth. Each tooth (upper and lower) has a name and these are (for adult teeth) in order from front to back:

• central incisor (your front tooth)
• lateral incisor
• canine (sometimes referred to as eye teeth)
• premolar (first and second), and
• molar (first, second and third)

The third molar is often referred to as the wisdom tooth. With that information, you can now decipher the above reference to a tooth. Secondary (permanent) maxillary (upper) right lateral incisor (second tooth from the front) or the permanent upper right second tooth from the front.

Dentist’s may also refer to these teeth by number. The Universal numbering system starts with the upper right permanent molar (upper right wisdom tooth) with the number 1. Each tooth is then numbered sequentially from right to left. The upper teeth are numbered from 1-16 before moving directly down to the left third molar (lower left wisdom tooth). The lower teeth are then numbered left to right 17-32.

The language used by dentists is not complex. Like any jargon, it may seem strange until you become familiar with it. Once you do, the terms used to name a tooth a very straightforward.

If you look at a person’s teeth, you can often tell straight away if they have wisdom teeth that are causing problems. The rest of their teeth are out of alignment with one or two teeth pushed forward as if there is insufficient room for all of their teeth. That is the exact problem. As the wisdom teeth have erupted, they have caused overcrowding in the mouth, thus causing the movement of teeth.

Patients who have their wisdom teeth removed will often feel an almost instant release of pressure on their teeth and jaw. Teeth may realign themselves although it will generally require devices such as braces to bring those teeth back into line.

That is only a small problem in comparison to the problems that wisdom teeth can cause. When erupting, some wisdom teeth find that there simply isn’t room to grow. These teeth then start to erupt sideways, a term often referred to as an impacted wisdom tooth.

In the past, an impacted wisdom tooth was dreaded by all. Today, it needn’t be. Modern technology has made the removal of these teeth fairly straightforward, and generally with no more discomfort than the removal of normal teeth. The actual process can take far longer than the removal of a normal tooth.

Wisdom teeth certainly don’t indicate wisdom. They do often indicate a brewing problem so a regular visit to a dentist is a must to check on its progress.

Not everyone has wisdom teeth. Around 35% of the population are fortunate so they don’t experience any of the problems faced by those that do. Wisdom teeth often erupt at different angles to the main body of teeth. This can cause discomfort and in some cases impact upon the other teeth, forcing them out of alignment.

Wisdom teeth have also been known to grow sideways, and this is what is often referred to as an impacted wisdom tooth. In the past, wisdom teeth were removed as a preventative measure, even if they weren’t causing any problems. Today, there are several different schools of thought. Some in the dental profession still prefer to remove them while others will advise to leave them be.

The general consensus now is fairly straightforward. If a patient’s wisdom teeth are not causing any discomfort, and they are not impacting in any way on the other teeth, then they are best left in place. Every extraction can cause problems of their own so unnecessary extractions are to be avoided.

If you have wisdom teeth, be guided by your dentist. If they are not causing any problems, then you will most likely not need to have them removed.

For the same reason, visiting a dentist regularly from an early age is also important. Your dentist can watch the progress of your teeth as you lose your ‘baby’ teeth and they are replaced by your ‘adult’ teeth. Again, as soon as a problem appears it can be rectified.

Wisdom teeth are a good example. If x-rays reveal they are growing at the wrong angle, then a dentist can often intercede before they create major problems. A dentist can often use cosmetic techniques to ensure that ‘adult’ teeth grow reasonably straight so that braces are not necessary later in life.

Prevention and early intervention is one of the best ways of ensuring you have a full set of teeth for your whole life. If you get to know your teeth early in life, you can play an active role in the identification of problems. Knowing your teeth also places a higher importance on them. You will take greater care of them such as thorough brushing, rather than just giving them a quick brush. You are also more likely to take care of the foods you put past them, being conscious of the food stuffs that are not good for your teeth.

Get to know your teeth. Inspect them regularly and use your tongue to feel around the inside of your teeth. It’s almost like another finger and very sensitive to any changes. If you do notice changes, be sure to tell your dentist about them.