Do you know your backache could be a result of dental problem?

Teeth are one of the important parts in the human body but some people suffer from chronic back pain due to dental problems.

Can dental problems cause back pain? Many patients ask this question and the answer is yes. The teeth are living structures, full of nerve endings. Decayed teeth can cause persistent pain and such pain can be easily irradiated through the trigeminal nerve across the face that provides sensory stimuli to the entire skull.

The pain can easily reach head, ears and may also affect the neck and back region. It can be continuous, but it is stronger when you grind your teeth.

Some people suffer from back pain for years without knowing that the reason is often linked to a malocclusion.

The jaw opening and closing mechanism must be in alignment to ensure full masticatory function and production of correct speech. In the presence of a malocclusion, both of these functions can be compromised depending on the severity and this can cause pain over the entire head and neck.

Correcting malocclusion and having the teeth aligned, especially for those affected by tooth-related headache and back pain would be advantageous.

Orthodontic treatment aimed at the realignment of the dental arches can reduce the overstraining of the musculature of the neck and back.

TMJ Problem is one of the major tooth problems that the present day people are dealing with. The joints connected to the skull, jaw and the neck becomes the main victim of this type of disorder. TMJ problem migrate from joints to other regions like teeth, connective tissue, nerves and other important joints related to it.

Headaches and back pain can also be caused by wisdom tooth problems. Fortunately, when wisdom tooth is not impacted and do not have particular problems the pain usually lasts only a few days.

If there are problems of misalignment or caries, it is always preferable to extract the wisdom tooth. Also, as we know they are not important for chewing and are hard to reach with a toothbrush. Dentists in India are regularly counseling patients on the complications that impacted wisdom teeth may have. In several cases wisdom tooth extraction can avoid some types of caries from being able to attack the adjacent teeth.

In some patients with back pain of an unknown origin, a loss of vertical height on certain teeth may result in compression on parts of the spine.

Treatment in this case, comprises restoring the vertical height of the affected teeth.

Some reputed dental clinics in Delhi, like ‘Smile Delhi-The Dental Clinic’, are routinely doing full mouth rehabilitations cases for people with loss of vertical height and restoring the teeth to its maximum achievable height.

It’s believed that misalignment of the teeth, especially among the back teeth, when the jaw is closed may be the trigger for the pain sometimes experienced in the back.

This doesn’t mean that all dental misalignments are going to affect the back or spine.

Toothache causing headache and back pain can also be felt due to some other usual dental problems. It may be caused if you are having sore or swollen gums or you are having erupted teeth. Also toothache problems may be induced by some inflamed sinus, anxiety, stress or jaw muscle spam or due to TMJ.

If not treated for long, toothache and back pain can become chronic. Dentists in Delhi make it a point to educate patients about the relation between oral and systemic health.

Treating your back pain and dental problem at an initial stage is therefore most important so that you do not suffer from such problems later.

Therefore, oral health care and treatment is essential to maintain good healthy living. Regular dental checkups and good dental health habits can save your body from getting further affected from number of problems that may be caused due to the initial pain.

Posted by – Dr Shriya