How can you avoid toothache?
What's Up Docs?
BBC
4.4 • 659 Ratings
🗓️ 10 March 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken get to the root of what shapes our health and wellbeing.
In this episode, they ask why our teeth so often cause pain and problems. They look at how teeth work, why they’re so prone to decay, and what actually causes toothache. They ask when it’s time to see a dentist, what helps with the pain, and whether there’s anything we can do ourselves to prevent it.
To help answer these questions, they’re joined once again by Praveen Sharma, Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant at the University of Birmingham.
If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08000 665 123.
Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken Guest: Dr Praveen Sharma Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar Editor: Jo Rowntree Researcher: Grace Revill Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable Visual Producer: Leon Gower Digital Lead: Richard Berry Composer: Phoebe McFarlane Sound Design: Ruth Rainey
At the BBC: Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio Podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | Hello, I've just nipped in before your BBC podcast starts to tell you all about |
| 0:09.4 | You're Dead to Me. We're the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Also from the BBC |
| 0:13.9 | and presented by me, Greg Jenner. I should have told you that at the beginning. Sorry. |
| 0:17.9 | Anyway, like many other BBC podcasts, such as Desert Island Discs, Evil Genius, or In Our Time, your dead to me is available first on BBC Sounds, |
| 0:26.3 | a whole month earlier than anywhere else, in fact. So if you can't wait another day to hear |
| 0:31.2 | the very latest in history and loads of other good stuff, then listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:37.4 | Hello, welcome to What's Up, Docs. |
| 0:39.0 | I'm Dr. Chris. |
| 0:39.8 | I'm Dr. Zand. |
| 0:40.8 | This is the podcast where we're trying to sort out facts from fiction delving into the complicated, |
| 0:47.1 | conflicted world of health and well-being. |
| 0:49.8 | Today's episode takes us to the dentist's waiting room or the famous castaway island with |
| 0:56.0 | Tom Hanks where he has to knock his tooth out with the ice skate because we're talking about |
| 1:01.7 | toothache. |
| 1:02.7 | It's something that almost all of us experience at some point in our lives. |
| 1:05.8 | Today we want to find out what toothache is, where it comes from and what we can do to prevent |
| 1:10.0 | and treat it. Good luck out there. |
| 1:12.2 | Stay with us. Chris, before we get our teeth into this episode, what's been going on with your |
| 1:20.6 | mice? Quick update for new listeners. Our cat, Winston, died or was killed by the vet. We then put out bird seed because |
| 1:29.1 | now we could safely attract birds to the garden. The bird seed fell on the ground. That |
| 1:33.0 | attracted a simply enormous quantity of rats, like half a dozen rats visible in the garden. |
... |
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