Your Brain Can't Tell Which Tooth Aches

A new study confirms what a lot of dentists already know: patients are often way off when they try to pinpoint a toothache. In fact, the brain can't seem to differentiate whether the pain is coming from the top or bottom row, Wired reports. It can pinpoint discomfort precisely in other parts of the body, but for some reason, mouth pain leaves it flummoxed.

The study, which will be published in the upcoming journal of Pain, is one of the first to tackle the subject. Researchers traced the pathways of tooth pain to the brain via electrical impulses. If they can get a better handle on how it all works, it could lead to better treatments—and maybe ease the so-called phantom pain that persists after a tooth gets yanked. (More pain stories.)