Is your child waking up with a painful toothache? Is it a simple toothache that needs to be fixed with a quick filling, or is it a sign of something serious?

What Parents Need to Know

We are worried about children dealing with toothaches, especially if they are accompanied by fever and facial swelling. Typically, a simple toothache is not a symptom of an emergency. Parents need to ask their children where the pain is occurring. Kid’s are notorious for saying the pain is in a variety of different areas in the mouth. Sometimes a simple piece of food is embedded in the gums, which can lead to pain, swelling, and infection. Does your child have a cold sore or canker sore? Examine their gums for signs of sores or swelling.

Is the Pain Waking Up Your Child?

Did your child wake up in the night with a toothache? If they have persistent pain or pain that keeps them awake at night, you should bring them into our office as soon as possible. A dental problem will become worse if it is not properly treated. The largest concern we have with intense dental pain is if the pain indicates a serious problem like an abscess tooth.

Sometimes children cannot identify where the pain is because the pain could be caused as a result of an abscess tooth that leads to nerve infection, which can cause pain in multiple areas of the mouth.

What Causes Dental Pain?

There are a variety of reasons why a child experiences dental pain, but it normally starts from a bacteria-induced infection. When your child comes into our office, we will examine their teeth and gums to look for signs of problems. If your child recently had a cavity filled, their bite could be misaligned, which leads to pain or aching while chewing.

If there is pain and swelling around the tooth, it could mean your child needs a pulpotomy. A pulpotomy is essentially a root canal performed on a baby tooth. The procedure involves removing part of the tooth’s nerve tissue. Unlike a root canal, only a small amount of pulp is removed from the tooth.

How Can I Help?

As a parent, you certainly want to do everything possible to keep your child from feeling any pain. There are some things you can do at home to reduce toothache pain, and hopefully solve the issue. If you cannot see a sore, or visible signs of decay (brown spots) on a tooth, help your child gently floss on both sides of the tooth. Flossing will help to free food particles that may be trapped beneath the gums and teeth. If your child is still dealing with pain, call our office at (801) 294-8880 immediately.

If your child is experiencing swelling, use an ice pack to help soothe the area and reduce swelling. Place the ice pack on and off the area that is painful and hold the ice for about a minute before taking it off for another minute, repeating the process for about twenty minutes.

Never attempt to rub any sort of alcohol on your child’s teeth or gums because it will harm them and will not cure an oral infection. Do not rub aspirin on the gums because it can burn the gums. Call our Bountiful pediatric dental office today to schedule an appointment for your child and help them get out of pain and on their way to a healthier smile!

South Davis Pediatric Dentistry is a children's dental office in Bountiful Utah