Ask a doctor on the topic of Otorhinolaryngology

Tooth pain caused by sinusitis?

January 16, 2012 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Christian Welsch

Hello,
I had a pretty bad cold in mid-December. I also had toothaches on the left and right side, especially my two crowned and root-treated teeth were hurting, the gums around these two teeth were red.
My suspicion was that these pains were due to a sinus infection. After the cold went away, the pain on the left side disappeared, but it remained on the right side.
After using nasal spray, the pain initially went away almost completely after about 45 minutes and returned after 3-4 hours. Several days later, I was finally completely pain-free. This lasted for about a week.
However, I am experiencing pain on the right side again. The gum line around the crowned tooth is slightly red again. The pain is not constant, it comes for a few minutes to an hour and then partially disappears completely for several hours.
I spend a lot of time outdoors, and due to the current cold weather, I don't feel any pain outside after some time.
What could this be now, how should I continue to treat it, and which doctor (ENT or dentist?) would be responsible for this now?

Christian Welsch

Dear questioner,

Answering this question is sometimes as difficult as determining whether the chicken or the egg came first. There can be both inflammations in the tooth roots that can affect the sinus cavity, as well as sinus infections that can put pressure on the teeth. What you are describing sounds more like a sinus infection. I would recommend consulting both doctors for their opinion.
Supportively, if there is no discolored mucus when blowing your nose, a treatment with a mucolytic agent (e.g. Soledum or Gelomyrtol) as well as inhaling (e.g. Pinimentol) would be advisable.

Get well soon,

C.Welsch