Why are some things dangerous but not painful, like cutting yourself, and others are painful but not dangerous, like hurting your teeth?

Question

Why are some things dangerous but not painful, like cutting yourself, and others are painful but not dangerous, like hurting your teeth?

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Answer 1

Pain is your brain interpreting signals from your nerves. Occasionally you can cut yourself, often with something very sharp and you only sever a few nerves and it doesn’t hurt much. Likewise, you can take some seemingly minor damage, like stubbing your toe, but it hurts a ton. This is because you have a good amount of nerve endings there and they all send pain signals at once.