“Why are toothaches worst at night?”

Toothaches when laying flat is strong indicative of pulpitis or pulpal necrosis. You may require root canal therapy.

Toothaches are typically worse at night for most people. This occurs because mainly during the day our brains are busy doing other things and it’s occupied completing many other functions, and so it just doesn’t notice the pain. At night the brain is not as active and so it will pick up on the pain a little more. It’s mainly just that the brain will perceive the pain more when it’s not busy doing other things.

Dr. Brandon Nicholson, D.D.S.

The simplest explanation deals with the process of inflammation. One of the more probable reasons for your tooth pain is that either the pulp nerve tissue, or some of the surrounding tissue or structures are inflamed for some reason. The exact reason for the inflammation has yet to be determined. But when you lie down, the blood is allowed to pool nite readily in the head and neck region. This extra blood just adds to the already inflamed tissues in the area. When you are standing upright, gravity helps to drain blood from the area, thus decreasing the resultant inflammation. You still need to seek care as son as possible in order to find the source of the inflammation that is causing the pain. Good luck.

At night, pain seems and does get worse. Changes in temperature. Barometric pressure sometimes lowers. When a storm is moving into an area, people who have pain will tell you. Then, when you have been dealing with the pain all day long, you are exhausted. The Ibuprofen dosage may not be at the level needed. Over-the-counter Ibuprofen is at the lowest dosage level. Talk to your doctor about what you can do. Dosages of ibuprofen should be taken every 8 hours when given or taking the pharmacy levels.

Sounds like you need a root canal. See a dentist soon.