Pain on biting

[Emily]

Hi

I have noticed since last week that one of my molars aches when I bite on it. My girlfriend thinks pain on biting usually means that the tooth needs a root filling but I have read that if a tooth needs a root canal, it would be hurting all the time and very severely.

Can you give me your opinion on this. Is this pain likely to go away if I ignore it for a while because its not very severe?

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Hi Emily

I am sorry to here your experiencing this pain on biting. If a tooth is infected this can either be acute or chronic. Acute infection would cause toothache and severe pain and sometimes swelling as in an abscess. Chronic infection on the other hand causes a dull ache and pain on biting.

Without examining you it seems this tooth has a chronic tooth infection. A chronic tooth infection can flare up sometimes and become acute. Therefore this pain is very unlikely to go away if ignored and the infection sometimes increases.

I suggest you see one of our experienced dentists for a full examination. Following this we can discuss what treatment is best for this tooth. We are open 24hours should you have a dental emergency.