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Having a headache can be bad enough, and having a headache as a result of a toothache, which is equally painful, can leave you feeling extremely uncomfortable and irritable. Any kind of trouble with your jaw or teeth can lead to a headache or migraine.

Why does a toothache cause a headache?

Headaches resulting from tooth pain can be caused if you have difficulties with the joint of the jaw or temporo-mandibular joint dysfunction (TMD), dental abscesses, or post extraction infection.

• The jaw joint otherwise known as temporo-mandibular joint symptoms can either have the pain all in one area or distributed across the face, neck, and head, which leads to a headache. Things that can lead to this are muscle tension, rheumatoid arthritis that affects the jaw, misalignment of the lower and upper jaw, cheek or lip biting, clenching or grinding your teeth, internal problems with the structure of the joint, and trauma from an accident or injury.
• If you have a tooth abscess, the inside of a tooth in the upper jaw gets infected. Pain in the upper jaw often leads to a headache. The growth of wisdom teeth and gum infections can also lead to headaches.
• A tooth extraction can lead to infection at times; in the event of that, the area from where the tooth has been removed starts to hurt, but if the infection is bad, it will radiate to your head, face and neck.

The relation between the head and teeth work the other way around as well; sinus symptoms include aching teeth. If you are suffering from pain, make sure to visit your dentist or doctor, as they will provide you with the best treatment course.

How to relieve a toothache?

If you cannot make it to the dentist or doctor immediately, there are ways to relieve tooth pain.

• You could take pain relief medicines like ibuprofen and acetaminophen; make sure you follow the instructions regarding dosage and the frequency of medicines.
• Avoid eating on the side of the mouth that hurts.
• Try tooth desensitizers on the teeth that are sensitive; these are available at all pharmacies.
• Use an icepack on the side that is causing you trouble; this will also help reduce the swelling and pain.
• Cleaning your teeth should be a number one priority as sometimes all you need to do to get rid of the pain is to floss your teeth.
• Avoid drinking very hot or cold drinks.

Home remedies for tooth pain relief

You could also try some home remedies for tooth pain relief like placing a cotton swab soaked in clove oil on the infected tooth, using a salt water wash, or placing a clove of garlic with rock salt on the affected area. You could also use the juice of wheat grass as a mouth wash, and soak a cotton swab in asafetida mixed with lemon juice and place it on the affected area. Keep in mind that these are all temporary solutions, and your best bet would be to make a trip to the dentist to find out the root of the problem.

References:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1774170
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17055919

Warning: The reader of this article should exercise all precautionary measures while following instructions on the home remedies from this article. Avoid using any of these products if you are allergic to it. The responsibility lies with the reader and not with the site or the writer.