Posted on 10/20/2019 by Oral Surgery Specialists of Austin
Your sinuses can cause a host of problems for anyone. From allergies to colds to infections your nose can get stuffed up or drain and cause sore throats, chest congestion and yes, your sinuses can cause tooth pain. To understand this it helps to know the relationship between your sinuses and your teeth.
Your sinuses have spaces that can fill up with fluid. These spaces around your eyes, they are behind your cheekbones and they also go into your forehead. When these spaces get filled up with fluid it can cause an infection.
Many times stuffed up sinuses will cause a headache near your forehead. Typically, it will get worse when you bend over. Since the roots of your upper teeth are near your sinuses, a sinus infection can affect your teeth and they can also affect your jawbone. Usually a sinus infection will affect only your upper teeth, but they can also affect your lower teeth as well.
How Can You Tell the Difference?
If you have a toothache you will typically call us. It makes sense since we are dentists and toothaches are usually a sign of a tooth problem. But toothaches caused by dental problems as opposed to toothaches that are related to your sinuses do have differences. A toothache typically affects only the tooth that has a problem. It can affect any of your teeth and will also affect your lower teeth as well if the tooth is a problem. But if your sinuses are the problem, there is a difference.
Sinus infections that affect your upper teeth usually will not affect only one tooth. You will usually feel the pain in multiple teeth. In addition, it usually affects primarily the molars of your upper teeth as they are closest to the sinus passages. If you have tooth pain in multiple teeth you should take your temperature. You may have a low-grade fever and unless you have recently had a dental procedure, your pain is probably being caused by your sinuses rather than your teeth. If you have a sinus infection, you may also notice that you have less energy. This could be due to your body garnering its resources to fight the sinus infection.
If you have a cough, or your nose is running or stuffed up in addition to the tooth pain, you probably have a sinus problem. It may simply be sinusitis, an inflammation of the sinuses. Sinusitis typically accompanies a cold or allergies. If it's an allergy you could also have watery eyes. If you are unsure whether to see us or your physician, give us a call at (512) 547-6852 and we'll help you make that determination. If you haven't had a dental exam in a while, you might be better off making an appointment so you can kill two birds with one stone.
Dental Implants Austin • Dental Blog • Oral Surgery Specialists We perform a variety of procedures in order to correct injuries, defects, and diseases to the head, face, neck, jaws, and tissues of the oral region. Read our Blog! Oral Surgery Specialists of Austin, 5301 Davis Ln, Suite 102, Austin, Texas 78749 / (512) 547-6852 / ossaustin.com / 3/21/2025 / Tags: Dental Implants Austin TX /
Your sinuses can cause a host of problems for anyone. From allergies to colds to infections your nose can get stuffed up or drain and cause sore throats, chest congestion and yes, your sinuses can cause tooth pain. To understand this it helps to know the relationship between your sinuses and your teeth.