Painful Molars

Healthy molar contacts

Peaks-to-slopes cause lateral forces, leading to molar pain

Molar pain can be caused by:

• Decay
  If the teeth have not received proper care, the holes caused by decay will produce pain.
• Excessive pressure being born by one or two molars.
  All your teeth ought to come together at the same time, but if there are times when two molars contact before the rest of your teeth, those teeth will start to develop problems such as: mobility, intrusion (teeth get pushed into the bone), nerve sensitivity, nerve infection, abscesses, wear, and cracking, all of which can produce pain.
• Molars contacting to produce off-center forces
  Your molars should contact “peaks to valleys” with the direction of the forces being down the length of the molar (through the roots). Anterior and canine guidance can help ensure this is the case. If you don't have the protection provided by anterior and canine guidance, or have other occlusal problems, so that your molars contact with peaks hitting slopes, lateral forces can result. These can produce tooth mobility, tooth wear, Abfractions, nerve sensitivity, never infection, and abscesses all of which can again produce pain.