Can an abscessed tooth cause your entire mouth to hurt? i have an abscessed tooth that i think is causing my whole mouth to hurt. it seems like the pain has spread to some other teeth and my gums. is this possible, or am i imagining things? i have an appo

Your : Your spreading pain can either be referred from the original abcess location or the infection may be spreading. Either way i would get to your dentist sooner than later.

It : It is not unusual that when a dental problem causes pain that the pain radiates to other teeth or areas, such as the ear. This is because the pain signals travel along nerves that wind their way back to the brain. You can feel the pain along the distribution of the nerve which includes teeth and gums around the affected site. Suggest that you relay this information to your dentist to see if you can be scheduled sooner.

Yes: An abscess can cause referred or distributed pain, and as a colleague suggested along the cranial nerve nearby, but it would seem that you have a right and left nerve, so by whole mouth do you mean left and right? I would think it would be just the one side. It is possible though that the pain is causing you bite eccentrically and may hurt on the other side. X-ray and exam are required.

Its possible: However you already have one infection (the abscess) from what your saying you might have more then one infection since it is rare for pain one one side of the mouth to go to the other side. Call your dentist and see if they can see you sooner rather then later.

Feels that way: Patients often say this but when questioned further it is more often than not actually limited to one side. However it is not impossible to have multiple dental problems at the same time, especially if you have been neglecting your mouth. Dental infections can be very serious so see a dentist immediately!

Signal: Pain is your bodies way of telling you that there is something wrong. An abscessed tooth is an infected tooth. As the infection spreads, so does the pain. The fact that you describe the pain as spreading is very worrisome. Please have the infection tended before it becomes a life-threatening issue.