Both gum problems around the teeth and a dead tooth can cause the teeth and surrounding gums to be painful to touch. What your dentist has to determine is which of the two problems is causing your pain.A dead tooth (a dentist will perform a test to see whether or not the tooth responds to sensations of cold or hot to determine if dead or not) that has not had a root canal treatment will most of the time cause and infection of the bone around the tip of the tooth, and that infection will often work it's way through the bone to the surrounding gums. This doesn't always show up on an x-ray at the early stages.A gum pocket, if it gets deep, can accumulate a lot of plaque and bacteria in areas where they can't be cleaned out. This can do the same thing....infect the bone and surrounding gums.If your dentist is having trouble diagnosing which problem you are having, then I suggest getting another opinion from an endodontist (root canal specialist). He will test your teeth in several ways to determine if you are having a gum or "dead tooth" issue. If the tooth is dead, and you want to save it, you certainly should have a root canal treatment.