US Medical Term · symptoms
Toothache
Dolor de muelas
Also: Dolor dental (regional variant)
What it means
A toothache is pain in or around a tooth. It is often the result of dental cavities (tooth decay) or an infection or irritation of the tooth, and in some cases it comes from grinding the teeth or other dental trauma. Sometimes pain felt in a tooth is actually due to pain in another part of the body, which is called referred pain; an earache, for example, may sometimes cause tooth pain. As tooth decay advances, it can cause a toothache or tooth sensitivity to sweets, hot, or cold. To find the source of the pain, a dentist examines the mouth, teeth, gums, tongue, throat, ears, nose, and neck, and dental x-rays may be needed.
Toothache in Spanish
- Spanish term
- Dolor de muelas
- Gender and article
- masculine: el dolor de muelas
- Pronunciation
- doh-LOR deh MWEH-lahs
| Other Spanish terms | Where it is used | Note |
|---|---|---|
| dolor de muela | General | Singular form; the MedlinePlus en español encyclopedia article uses it alongside the plural. |
| dolor de diente | General | The MedlinePlus en español article writes "dolor de diente o de muela" and lists "Dolor de diente o de dientes" among its alternative names. |
| dolor en el diente | General | Wording on the Spanish tooth decay page of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, where its English page says toothache (tooth pain). |
Dolor de muelas is the form MedlinePlus en español uses: its encyclopedia article is titled Dolores de muelas, the plural, where the English article is titled Toothaches. The same article also writes the singular dolor de muela and the phrase dolor de diente o de muela, and it lists dolor de diente o de dientes among its alternative names. It defines the term as el dolor en o alrededor de un diente, pain in or around a tooth.
Related words on the same page: caries dental (tooth decay), rechinar los dientes (grinding the teeth) and dolor referido o irradiado (referred pain). The Spanish page of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research says dolor en el diente where its English page says toothache. Dolor takes masculine forms, so a severe toothache is un dolor de muelas intenso, the wording the encyclopedia uses in its list of reasons to seek medical care.
Phrases for an appointment
What a patient or a clinician might say, in English and Spanish:
| Who | English | Spanish |
|---|---|---|
| Patient | I have had a toothache for two days. | Tengo dolor de muelas desde hace dos días. |
| Clinician | When did the pain start, and where exactly is it? | ¿Cuándo comenzó el dolor y dónde lo siente exactamente? |
| Patient | It is this tooth on the lower right side. | Es este diente de abajo, del lado derecho. |
| Clinician | Do you wake up at night because of the pain? | ¿Se despierta por la noche a causa del dolor? |
| Patient | Yes, and it gets worse when I drink something cold. | Sí, y empeora cuando tomo algo frío. |
| Clinician | Do you have any other symptoms, such as fever or an earache? | ¿Tiene otros síntomas, como fiebre o dolor de oído? |
| Clinician | I am going to examine your mouth, and we may need dental x-rays. | Voy a examinarle la boca y es posible que necesitemos radiografías dentales. |
| Patient | When was my last dental checkup? I think it was more than a year ago. | ¿Cuándo fue mi último control dental? Creo que fue hace más de un año. |
In 9 languages
| Language | Term |
|---|---|
| English | Toothache |
| Spanish (Español) | Dolor de muelas |
| Chinese (中文) | 牙痛 |
| Korean (한국어) | 치통 |
| Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) | Đau răng |
| Filipino (Tagalog) | Sakit ng ngipin |
| Portuguese (Português) | Dor de dente |
| Thai (ภาษาไทย) | อาการปวดฟัน |
| Japanese (日本語) | 歯痛 |
Where you'll see it
Related terms
Your right to an interpreter in the United States
If English is not your primary language and you have difficulty communicating in English, you may need an interpreter or a translated document when you visit a doctor or dentist, go to the emergency room or pick up a prescription. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights states that two federal laws, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, require programs that receive its funding to provide language access services free of charge.
You can ask when you make the appointment or at the front desk: "I need an interpreter, please." «Necesito un intérprete, por favor.»
More terms: Digestive system
All terms in this area: Digestive system — Sistema digestivo
Sources
- Toothaches (Medical Encyclopedia) — MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine
- Dolores de muelas (Enciclopedia médica) — MedlinePlus en español, Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina
- Tooth Decay — National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), NIH
- La caries dental — National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), NIH
- Limited English Proficiency (LEP): Your Right to Language Assistance Services — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights
This page is a language reference. It is not medical advice.
Last reviewed: October 7, 2026