A toothache is truly hard to bear. During the day you can go straight to the dentist, but at night or on holidays it's not so easy. In these cases, it's a good idea to relieve the pain temporarily with a painkiller until you can see a dentist.

Sudden pain is mostly caused by inflammation. When the nerve inside a tooth is irritated by disease or injury, it can swell or become damaged, causing severe pain. Biting down hard on hard food is a typical example of such an injury.

Also, if a cavity is left untreated for a long time, bacteria gradually burrow inward, damaging the nerve and building up gas, which can cause severe pain.

Most toothaches are caused by pulpitis (inflammation of the tooth nerve). In this case, medicine with anti-inflammatory ingredients works better than a simple painkiller.

So if severe pain is keeping you up at night, ibuprofen, dexibuprofen, or naproxen will help more.

These are only 'first aid' measures; to fix the underlying cause, you must get dental treatment.

Pain can also occur temporarily when food gets stuck between your teeth and presses on the gums. In this case, removing the debris quickly relieves the discomfort. Keeping up oral hygiene with floss or interdental brushes is an important habit.

If tartar has built up below the gumline and is causing periodontal disease, it's a good idea to have it removed with scaling to relieve the pain.