Why is toothache worse at night?
Ever had a toothache and felt sure it was more painful at night? They’re no fun at the best of times, but if your tooth pain is keeping you awake, then it’s time to do something about it. Below, we discuss why toothaches seem to get worse at night, followed by what you can do to help alleviate the pain.
Why does toothache get worse at night?
There are a number of reasons why your tooth pain can seem to get worse at night, and these can be a mixture of medical and non-medical reasons. Here are some of the most common potential reasons for exacerbated tooth pain at night.
Lying down
For example, some forms of dental pain can be exacerbated by lying down, with the increase in pain being linked to changes in blood flow around your body. If this affects you, it may be that your toothache would also be more painful if you were to lie down during the day – it’s just far more common to do so when you go to sleep at night.[1,2]
As well as changing how your blood flows around your body, lying down can also increase pain via more direct means. For example, if you have toothache on the left side of your mouth, then sleeping on your left may put pressure on the affected area. While the obvious solution to that is to not sleep on the side that has toothache, this can be more complicated for those who switch sides during the night, or if you habitually sleep on the affected side.
Nightly bruxism
Additionally, your tooth pain could feel worse at night due to a condition called bruxism, or tooth-grinding. Grinding your teeth at night gradually wears away the protective surfaces on your teeth to cause sensitivity – so it could be responsible for your toothache in the first place – and this constant grinding action could exacerbate existing pain.
Crucially, bruxism is commonly linked to stress and anxiety, so the very act of worrying about your toothache or the sleeplessness it causes could increase your risk of dental damage. You can protect against damage caused by bruxism by wearing mouth guards to sleep, such as DenTek Maximum Protection Mouth Guards, which mould to your teeth for a comfortable fit.[3]
Fewer distractions
Sometimes, though, your toothache feeling worse at night isn’t linked to the pain actually being worse. It might simply be that, at nighttime, there are fewer distractions to keep you from realising the true extent of the pain.
During the day, you might be working, studying, socialising with loved ones and enjoying entertainment like films, TV and books. But when you’re trying to get to sleep, there’s little to do except lie there and count sheep – so it may seem like the pain is worse and more noticeable.
Stacking discomforts
Last but not least, it could be that your tooth pain feels worse because it’s starting to combine with other sources of discomfort, such as fatigue. This is especially likely if you’ve been dealing with tooth pain for a while and lost sleep regularly because of it – the more sleep you miss out on, the greater the impacts of sleep deprivation can be.[4]
How to sleep with toothache
It’s clear that toothache can be a real pain, whether it’s objectively worse at night or it just feels that way. Whatever the case, it’s important to take action to treat your toothache so you can feel better and, if necessary, catch up on that lost sleep.
The first and most important thing to remember when trying to relieve toothache is that if you’ve had it for more than two days, it’s time to speak to your dentist. There are a number of conditions that can cause tooth pain, some of which can worsen if left untreated, so getting your oral health checked out is vital.
Next, consider if there’s anything you can do at home to relieve the pain. If you already have mouth guards, try wearing them to see if shielding your teeth from grinding each other helps at all. It might also be worth brushing your teeth a little earlier in the evening if you find that brushing exacerbates the pain. This allows the pain time to settle again before you attempt to go to sleep.
You can also try remedies to ease the pain while you wait to see a dentist. Painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen can be helpful – speak to a pharmacist if you’re not sure which is best for you personally and make sure to read the product leaflet prior to use. You might find that warm or cold compresses help to temporarily soothe pain as well – but these are best reserved for use in the evening as you prepare for bed rather than in the bed itself. That’s because very hot or cold items such as hot water bottles or ice packs can harm the skin if the insulating cover accidentally slips off.
At the end of the day, toothache is never pleasant to deal with, but there are a number of ways you can relieve the pain until you can see a doctor for treatment. And don’t forget, the best way to avoid getting toothaches in the future is to take good care of your teeth every day.[5]
Resources
[1] – https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/mouth/toothache/
[2] – Renton, Tara. “Dental (Odontogenic) Pain.” Reviews in pain vol. 5,1 (2011): 2-7. doi:10.1177/204946371100500102 Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4590084/
[3] – https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/teeth-grinding/
[4] – https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-deprivation/effects-of-sleep-deprivation
[5] – https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/toothache/
