Do Cavities Hurt? Yes, no, sometimes, always, never…it just depends. They are different for everyone. Cavities in Hoover AL dental patients do not present with any symptoms until they are quite large.

In fact, I have seen many teeth with cavities so large that they were abscessed and yet there was never any pain or sensitivity present. Of course there are those on the complete other side of the spectrum as well.

My wife is a great example. She told me she had a cavity about a year before I could detect anything (and we use magnified vision and the most modern equipment to detect cavities). Some people are just like that though. One of the biggest complaints I have as a dentist is when I get the response, “it doesn’t hurt.”

I can detect a cavity and even show pictures, x-rays, etc to the patient, so they can see the cavity for themselves and then the response I get is: “it doesn’t hurt.” And this is used in the context of, “it doesn’t hurt, therefore it doesn’t exist.” This is very poor reasoning.

Cavities Hoover Dental Patients

I believe it doesn’t hurt…it may never hurt, but there is a problem that needs addressed while it still can. There are so many factors involved that determine whether or not there will be pain associated with a cavity. So the presence (or absence) of pain should never be the deciding factor.