Ever wonder why the pain from a toothache doesn’t seem to just stay in the tooth? A photo shared to social media offers an intricate look at how closely nerves originating in the human brain extend around the face and spread down to each individual tooth.
The image in question was popularized in November 2021 when it was shared to Reddit, but had been shared to social media in the years prior by doctors and dentists alike.
And it’s true and authentic. The image was created by Anatomy Next, a medical publishing company that specializes in printed books and digital software and depicts the nerve connections between the brain and the teeth.
Nerves that end in each individual tooth originate from the maxillary nerve, which stems from the trigeminal nerve, a mixed nerve bundle made of both motor and sensory fibers that extends around the brain and over the entire face. The trigeminal nerve provides sensory innervation in the oral and nasal cavities, as well as the ear, conjunctiva (mucous membrane that covers the front of the eye), and the skin of the face, according to Anatomy Next.
Making up the second branch of the trigeminal nerve, the maxillary nerve provides sensory information to the central nervous system from the teeth of the upper jaw, the upper lip and check, and the middle parts of the face.
Sources
“The Nerves That Innervate the Teeth.” R/Interestingasfuck, 15 Nov. 2021, www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/quob1w/the_nerves_that_innervate_the_teeth/.
Maxillary Nerve (CN V2). https://anatomy.net/maxillary-nerve-cn-v2. Accessed 26 Nov. 2021.
Trigeminal Nerve (CN V). https://anatomy.net/trigeminal-nerve-cn-v. Accessed 26 Nov. 2021.