What does this mean?
A watering eye, redness of the eye, a drooping eyelid, a runny nose and blockage are signs of the part of the nervous system that works without your control. If they appear on the same side as the pain and disappear when the pain goes, they share a nerve network with whatever the pain is coming from.
What tells things apart here is the timing. If the signs start with the pain, end with the pain and happen on one side only, the picture narrows. How long the pain lasts adds something too: attacks that last from minutes to a few hours, come at the same time of night and leave you too restless to sit still are dealt with under a different heading. Both nostrils being blocked and both eyes watering, by contrast, point to more common causes such as allergy and an upper respiratory infection.
This symptom concerns dentistry on two counts. First, because the roots of the upper back teeth sit next to the floor of the sinus, sinusitis coming from a tooth can bring pressure in the face, a blocked nose on one side and a bad smell all together. Second, a watering eye and a blocked nose on one side are not expected findings with the pain of an inflamed tooth nerve; when they join the picture, the search widens beyond the tooth.
These signs alongside the pain do not by themselves say where the source is, but they narrow the field considerably; what your dentist looks at is which side it is on, how long it lasts and whether it comes and goes with the pain.
Likely causes
What helps at home?
- Write down how long the attack lasts, what time of day it comes and which eye waters; these three pieces of information carry real weight at the examination.
- Do not use nasal sprays for longer than the box says; with sprays that narrow the blood vessels the blockage comes back after a while and muddies the picture.
- Stay away from smoking and alcohol while you are having attacks; both can set off this kind of pain.
- Before you press for treatment on the tooth the pain points to, tell your dentist about these signs plainly; work done on a sound tooth cannot be undone.
- If the pain is the worst you have ever had and you cannot keep still
- If your eye is red, your vision is blurred or your eyelid is drooping
- If blisters, a rash or a change in the skin have appeared over the painful area
- If you have a one-sided, foul-smelling or bloody discharge from your nose
- If a fever or swelling of the face or around the eye comes with it
Frequently asked questions
- Could my eye watering be caused by toothache?
- With severe toothache the eyes can water as a reflex, but this is usually on both sides and is not accompanied by a blocked nose, a red eye or a drooping eyelid. If there is marked watering on the painful side together with a blocked nose on that side, the source is also looked for beyond the tooth. The examination and, where needed, scans make the distinction.
- Is this sinusitis or something else?
- In sinusitis that comes from a tooth, the blockage and the discharge carry on for days independently of the pain, the pressure in the face increases when you bend forward, and the discharge often smells. Attacks that start with the pain, end with the pain and last from minutes to a few hours are dealt with as a separate group. Since both can be one-sided, the distinction is made by looking at how long it lasts and how it runs its course.
- Where should I go with this?
- If sensitivity in the upper back teeth, pain that grows when you chew, or a known dental problem goes with it, a dental examination is a reasonable first step. If nothing dental is found, the assessment carries on with ear, nose and throat and with neurology. If the pain is severe or there are signs involving the eye, that assessment should not be put off.
This content is for general information and does not replace an in-person examination. Symptoms overlap between conditions, and a diagnosis can only be made clinically.