Tips to relieve toothache from sinus pressure:
Taking an antibiotic
If you're having tooth pain from sinus pressure, there is a good chance that you may have sinusitis (inflamed sinuses). Frequently, sinusitis is caused by bacteria and therefore a regimen of antibiotics may just make it all go away a lot faster.
Where to get antibiotic: These antibiotics are by prescription only and ideally you should see your PCP or ENT doctor to get it. However sometimes your dentist may be able to help you with it.
What antibiotic is helpful: Amoxicillin or penicillin is very effective for sinusitis. Typically a week long regimen should be sufficient in alleviating your condition.
However, the condition is self-resolving for the most part and would probably go away all on its own even if you didn't do anything. Nonetheless, taking the medication does expedite it.
Taking an anti-inflammatory pain medication
Taking an anti-inflammatory pain medication such as a NSAID like ibuprofen could help relieve some of the toothache.
It helps manage pain: Since ibuprofen is a pain reliever, the discomfort that you're feeling should be reduced while you're taking it. It may or may not make all of the pain go away but you should at least feel better while on it.
It helps reduce inflammation: A lot of the sinus pressure discomfort stems from the inflammation of the sinus lining. Since NSAIDs are anti-inflammatory, it can help reduce some of that inflammation which in turn will help alleviate some of the pressure.
Minimize strenuous workouts
One way to prevent the tooth pain from getting worse due to sinus pressure is to minimize strenuous exercises which causes your head to bob up and down.
Why forceful head movements can make it worse: Most patients experiencing some type of discomfort from sinusitis often report jogging or running makes it worse. The reason is because the impact from shaking your head can push the inflamed sinus onto the tip of the root nerve which makes the "tooth pain" feel more pronounced.
To illustrate our point, below is an x-ray showing the close proximity of the root tip with the maxillary sinus. As you can see, they are literally right on top of each other!
This tip for relieving pain/pressure also applies to any type of physical activity which creates impact or involves sudden head movements.
Exercises that can exacerbate it:
Running/jogging
Jump rope
Certain yoga poses
Essentially any form of cardio activity!
This isn't the first thing that comes to people's mind for relief but hopefully that all makes sense!
Professional dental consultation
We put this last but this is actually the most important tip that we could give.
You should always get a professional dental consultation with your dentist if you're experiencing some type of toothache.
How can you be sure that the tooth pain is coming from sinus pressure? What if the pain is unrelated to your sinus and it is a legitimate toothache?
The only way to figure that out is if you schedule an appointment with your dentist. You need them to rule out odontogenic pain, meaning that it originates from the tooth and not the sinus.
Potential problems that can be misconstrued as a sinus toothache:
Root canal nerve pain
Cracked tooth syndrome
Large cavity
Exposed nerves from gum recession
With that being said, if you're in need of a dental consultation and you're located near Long Island City, NY our dentists can help you with the diagnosis!
