Can Dental Work & Tooth Problems Cause Headaches or Migraines?

Written by Paige Fowler

Medically Reviewed by Murtaza Cassoobhoy, MD on May 26, 2023

• Causes
• Treatment

If you get migraines, one thing’s certain: You want to find a way to stop them. While you feel a migraine in your head, one cause may reside in your mouth and jaw.

You have two temporomandibular joints (TMJs) that connect the sides of your jaw to your skull. They help you open and close your mouth when you talk, eat, and yawn. Pain that starts in those joints or the muscles around them can travel to your skull and lead to a migraine. 

Many things can cause jaw pain. One possibility is that you clench your jaw or grind your teeth. You might clench your jaw throughout the day when you feel stressed. Or you may grind your teeth together at night while you sleep. You may not be aware that you do either of these things.

Signs that you clench your jaw or grind your teeth include:

• Your teeth are flat, broken, chipped, or loose.
• Your teeth feel more sensitive.
• You have pain or soreness in your jaw or face.
• Your jaw feels tired or tight.
• You have an earache, but there’s no problem with your ears.

Another cause of TMJ pain that can lead to a migraine is an issue with your bite. This can happen if you’re missing a tooth or your teeth don’t line up right. A problem with your bite may mean that the muscles in your jaw have to work harder to bring your upper and lower teeth together. Over time, that can become painful.

If you chew gum often, that can lead to TMJ pain, too. Lots of chewing strains your jaw. It’s like lifting a weight over and over again. As a result, you can have pain and soreness in your jaw. 

If an issue with your TMJ is causing your migraines, your headaches probably will get better when you treat that problem. Your dentist will be able to check your teeth, jaw, and muscles to see what’s causing your pain.

If you grind or clench your teeth, they might recommend a mouth guard that fits over your upper or lower teeth and keeps them apart while you sleep so you can’t grind them together.

These devices are available over the counter. But they can make your problem worse. If they don’t fit well, they can make you clench your teeth even more. It’s much better to have a dentist fit you for a custom mouthguard.

If your teeth don’t line up the way they should, your dentist may suggest dental treatments to correct your bite. This might include crowns, braces, or oral surgery.

Some people grind or clench their teeth because of stress. If you think this may be the case for you, some things, like exercise, therapy, or meditation, can help you manage it.

Other lifestyle changes can make a difference, too:

• Don’t chew on your fingernails, lips, cheeks, or other objects like pens.
• Use a hands-free device when you talk on the phone to keep pressure off your head and jaw.
• Don’t chew gum.
• Stay away from sticky or crunchy foods that make your jaw work harder.
• Cut food like hamburgers or apples into smaller pieces so you don’t have to take big bites.
• Try to relax your jaw and keep your upper and lower teeth apart during the day.

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Are Your Teeth Giving You A Headache?

Headaches and links with dental malocclusion

The World Health Organisation estimates that almost half of the adult population has experienced a headache at least once within the last year. Those suffering from recurrent headaches may find that they impact their quality of life, both at home and at work.

What constitutes a recurrent headache? A headache is considered recurrent if it is present for more than 15 days per month. This affects up to a staggering 4% of the world’s adult population.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/

There are a wide range of headache disorders from migraines to cluster headaches. Did you know that there are also headaches that can be linked to the misalignment of your teeth?

Your teeth should fit together in a natural balance within your mouth – this is what is known as a balanced occlusion. If you take a quick look at the surface of your back teeth you will see lots of lumps and bumps, known as cusps.

As your jaw moves from left to right these cusps may knock into one another, known as cusp interference. These possible interferences can mean that your jaw joint muscles have to work extra hard to move your jaw in ways that avoid these interferences.

One of the problems is that the jaw muscles become used to this movement and effectively become ‘programmed’. By using a bite guard or splint overnight it is possible to de-programme these muscles to give them a chance to relax, thereby easing the headaches and muscle pain.

These bite interferences can also lead to teeth grinding.

How do I stop my teeth grinding?

Teeth grinding, known as bruxism, can be reduced by:

1. visiting your dentist to ensure there are no possible interferences (please see above)
2. wearing a night mouth guard or splint to de-programme your facial muscles and keep the teeth slightly apart
3. reducing stress
4. allowing your muscles to relax during the day by not chewing on gum or pens etc.
5. getting plenty of sleep
6. staying hydrated.

A night mouth guard/splint is a clear appliance, which is usually worn on the lower teeth. The surface of the guard will be smooth meaning that the upper teeth have nothing to grind against, this allows your facial muscles to relax at night.

more information on ways to reduce bruxism.

Could a bad tooth cause my headache?

The simple answer is yes. Headaches caused by malocclusion (teeth being in the wrong place) tend to be more generalised around the head. Why? This is because the tension causes muscle pain which can result in a headache.

If a headache is caused by one decayed or damaged tooth, the headache will be far more localised to this area. You should seek immediate emergency dental advice.

What is causing my jaw pain?

Pain in the jaw can be caused by:

1. a damaged or infected tooth, in this case, the pain will likely be very localised
2. the teeth not biting together properly (malocclusion)
3. stress or lack of sleep causing you to grind your teeth
4. a jaw injury.

How do I stop clenching teeth at night?

The first step is to address the issues of sleep and stress. We recommend taking time to relax in the evening and ensuring that you get plenty of sleep.

If you are unable to establish no other underlying causes, then visiting your dentist may be the best option.

If required, your dentist will be able to provide you with a clear night guard/splint to prevent your teeth from biting together. This means your jaw muscles relax at night, ensuring you wake up in the morning with minimal or no jaw pain.

Clenching teeth at night can lead not only to headaches but to damaged teeth so it is important to ensure that this issue is addressed correctly.

Can a head hurt because of a tooth?

Home Articles Can a head hurt because of a tooth?

Headache has always been a problem for many people at all times. This kind of pain may occur due to anatomical features. Of course, a headache can also be due to diseases in the oral cavity, since dental diseases often cause severe pain. With any manifestation of a headache, it is necessary to immediately contact specialists who, after a complete diagnosis of the body, will be able to make a correct diagnosis and establish the cause of the pain.

What are the causes of headache associated with the mouth?

In fact, there are many reasons, since the oral cavity and the head are closely related. One of the reasons can be called the wrong bite, which can be congenital or acquired. With an incorrect bite, pressure is exerted on certain muscle groups, which can lead to headaches due to overexertion.

Consider other options for the manifestation of headache in the presence of dental problems:

• If there is untreated caries that has passed into the deep stage. Deep caries negatively affects the dental nerve, which can affect the occurrence of pain in the temples.
• Displaced jaw head. This causes contact of the head with the joint and leads to injury to the latter. Against the background of this injury, headaches and pains in the ears occur.
• If the implant structures were incorrectly placed. If the doctor did not have enough experience with the installation and did not follow the protocol for the procedure, then damage to the dental nerve could occur, which, accordingly, will lead to a severe headache in the future.

How to treat the pain that occurs?

To begin with, it is necessary to determine whether the headache that has arisen is related to dental diseases. If you experience a headache of any etymology, you should consult a doctor immediately. You should visit a therapist who, if necessary, will appoint a visit to other specialists, such as an ENT or neurologist. If it has been established that the pain in the head occurs due to a disease of the oral cavity, then in no case should you be afraid of a visit to the dentist. He will conduct an examination, prescribe additional examinations, such as x-rays, to determine the condition of the teeth in the oral cavity and stop the problem that has arisen.

Each type of disease has its own method of treatment. This can be the correction of the bite with the help of specialized structures, the elimination of carious lesions, the removal of the nerve, if necessary, and so on. Also, do not forget about the proper care of the oral cavity.

Proper care should include obligatory brushing of teeth twice a day, rinsing after meals, cleaning the tongue with a special scraper, which can be purchased at the pharmacy. Such care will help minimize the risk of oral diseases.

2022-11-29

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When should a wisdom tooth be removed? – Dentistry MKS

Wisdom tooth is called the eighth tooth in a row. Scientists believe that the eighth tooth is a rudimentary organ, the need for which the body has lost.

Unlike other teeth, they are laid in a person not before birth, but already at the age of four or five years. Wisdom teeth usually erupt between the ages of 16 and 27, but it happens that they do not appear at all. Dentists consider such cases to be the norm, not a pathology.

Essentially, the indication for wisdom tooth extraction is any inconvenience associated with it, as well as the risk of complications . The presence or absence of a figure eight most often does not affect the beauty of a smile, and in this case it is really easier to eliminate the cause than to deal with the consequences. Wisdom teeth definitely need to be removed in the following cases:

Constant pain

The wisdom tooth must be removed when it is affected. Find out if you have intense and persistent mouth pain. As the affected tooth grows, it can cause the gums to swell. This causes a very distinct pain that you will immediately want to eliminate.

Erupting teeth pick up plaque very easily. This means that the top of swollen gums can develop caries . If you are dealing with this kind of pain, you should contact your dentist immediately.

The appearance of cysts

Caries and swollen gums are not the only things that can cause pain. Damaged wisdom teeth can also lead to painful cysts in the mouth.

Cysts appear around the gums and contain tissue and fluid. Some cysts may not be painful, but others will interact with wisdom tooth decay and infections, causing severe pain.

See a dental surgeon to remove cysts and wisdom teeth at the same time.

Severe headaches

Sometimes the signs that you need to have your wisdom teeth removed are obvious. A toothache of any kind usually means you need to see a dentist. In other cases, these signs are less obvious, such as when you suffer from severe headaches.