There are number of reasons behind tooth pain and  Depression  is one of them.

In  day to day practice , I meet many of my  patients who have excellent set of teeth with no sign  or symptom to any disease but complaints about continuous pain. No wonder , sometimes diagnosis is their suffering from depression/stress  or anxiety. A patient can actually point out at a tooth with  complaint of pain but on examination there could be possibly a healthy tooth with no problem.

So how depression causes TOOTHACHE?

Continuous stress can lead to development of few unknowing habits as teeth grinding or clenching of teeth. These para functional habits generate additional stresses on muscles holding jaw in place that eventually result in muscle spasm.And in long term it causes pain which radiate to teeth, jaw , neck or even shoulder.

Sign and symptoms

  1. Jaw clicking or making noise during opening or closure.
  2. Pain appears mostly in morning or shows particular pattern
  3. Dull, continuous pain but sometimes difficult to find the origin.
  4. Pain can radiate to both the jaw or to neck or shoulder.

What to do?

Usually in most cases patients are  asked about their  history and if suffering from any emotional outbursts /depression or anxiety then advised to take opinion from  general practitioner to start some medicine to relieve the stress.

Yoga, meditation, joining health clubs and following healthy life style have shown huge impact on many cases. To relieve pain, patients are advised to use hot compress on affected areas and in established cases even prescribed to wear Night guards as well.

So in nutshell, Good oral health is a tool to maintain your overall good general health. And visiting a dentist on routine basis is actually is pathway towards it.