Can a Cracked Tooth Cause Headaches? Signs and What to Do

How a cracked tooth turns into a headache

The nerves of the teeth and the nerves of the face share pathways, so the brain is not always good at saying where a pain is coming from. A crack lets cold, heat and chewing pressure reach the nerve inside the tooth (the pulp). The signal can be felt in the tooth, or it can be felt somewhere nearby, like the temple or the ear.

The second route is muscle. A tooth that hurts when you bite makes you chew on the other side and clench without noticing. Tired jaw and temple muscles produce their own headache. That is why the ache often feels worse by the afternoon.

Signs the headache is coming from the tooth

None of these proves it. Several together make it likely:

• The headache is on one side, and it is the same side as a sensitive or sore tooth
• Pain that shoots when you bite down and then lets go, or sharp pain from cold drinks
• The ache is worse after chewing and better after a quiet morning
• Tapping or pressing on one tooth is uncomfortable
• Painkillers take the edge off but the ache returns at the same times each day

Most people who come to us with this have already tried a few weeks of headache tablets and hoped that was the end of it. It is a reasonable guess. It is just not always the right one.

When the headache is not the tooth

Most headaches have nothing to do with teeth. Tension, migraine, poor sleep, dehydration and sinus congestion are all more common. A sinus infection in particular can make the upper back teeth ache, which is the opposite problem, and we explain it in sinus infection or toothache. Grinding at night causes both tooth pain and morning headaches, and sometimes it is the grinding that cracked the tooth in the first place. See teeth grinding and tooth pain and jaw pain, clicking and headaches.

If the tooth looks and feels normal and the headache has no pattern with chewing or temperature, a dentist may find nothing, and your doctor is the right next call. We would rather tell you that than book you for a crack that is not there.

When it is more than a crack

A crack that reaches the nerve can let bacteria in and lead to an infection at the root. That changes the picture. Swelling in the gum or face, a bad taste, a pimple-like bump on the gum, or pain that throbs on its own without any trigger all point that way. Our guide to an abscess and headaches covers what that looks like, and cracked tooth: signs, types and whether it can be saved explains how cracks are classified and which ones can be kept.

Go to an emergency room, not a dental clinic, if the headache is sudden and the worst you have ever had, or comes with fever and a stiff neck, vision changes, confusion, weakness or trouble speaking. Those are not dental. If you are unsure which side of the line you are on, the emergency room versus the dentist for tooth pain sets it out.

What we do at the visit

We ask where the pain is, what sets it off and how long it has been going. Then we test the suspect tooth: a bite test on each cusp, a cold test, a close look under magnification and an X-ray. Cracks are often invisible on an X-ray, so the story you tell us carries real weight.

Treatment depends on how deep the crack goes. A shallow crack may need only a crown to hold the tooth together. If the nerve is involved, a root canal and then a crown is usually the route. A crack that runs down into the root can mean the tooth cannot be kept. We will tell you which one it is before we start. Details are on our cracked tooth repair page for Beit Shemesh. The American Association of Endodontists has a plain guide to cracked teeth, and the American Dental Association's MouthHealthy page is a good second source.

If it flares up late in the week in Beit Shemesh

Our clinic at Harav Kook 28/1 is open Sunday to Thursday 8:00 to 20:00 and Friday 9:00 to 17:00, and Shabbat is for genuine emergencies only. A tooth-related headache that builds on Thursday night is harder to live with than the same one on Sunday morning, because the weekend is long and the ache does not keep office hours. Same-day appointments are possible at the Beit Shemesh clinic. Dr. Joel is USA-trained and treats in English and Hebrew, so you can describe a headache that moves around in whichever language is easier.

To get a sore tooth and a stubborn headache looked at in Beit Shemesh, call or WhatsApp Urgent Dental Care on 055-985-8845.