What Causes Tooth Sensitivity and How Can It Be Treated?
Your teeth are sensitive when you drink something cold or when you’re out on a cold day? You’re not alone. I’ve had it too myself.
Our diets these days are flooded with acidic content beverage and foods. Eating disorders don’t just hurt the physique but also one’s teeth and mouth. We clench/grind our teeth a lot. And possibly have used abrasive toothbrushes in the past (thankfully can’t find them on the market much anymore).. Teeth are left more bare than before, sensitive to the environmental stimuli like ice-cream!
What do you do about it? Remove the stimuli if possible.
- Wear a guard if clenching or do Botox treatment to address that
- Use soft bristled toothbrush – better yet electric toothbrushes that do the job for you and take the guess work out of it
- Drink no (less) soda or acidic content beverages (and yes, that does include sparkling water)
- Don’t suck on lemons
- Close your mouths when swimming (chlorine in water does wear teeth down)
- Address your GERD or acid reflux issue
- Address your sleep apnea or mouth breathing issue
- Maybe your teeth can’t tolerate being whitened so often perhaps
- Use dentrifices (toothpastes or mouthwashes) for sensitive teeth (some need prescription)
- Rinse with fluoridated mouthwashes that high in mineral content and have no alcohol
- And if all fails, talk to your dentist!
- Sometimes it’s more than this. Sometimes, it has to do with gum recession around the roots of the teeth that either need pin hole procedure to cover them up or maybe just a filling or even a grafting surgery depending on the case and area. It could be that the inside of your tooth is showing through from all the acidic and mechanical wear that’s happened at one point in your life or a fracture that’s occurred in which case we’d need some type of a restoration (filling/crown and alike).
- And sometimes, really it’s none of the above and just an inexplicable sensitivity in which case we could try in-office desensitizers which vary in shape and form. One of the most interesting ones that I have seen so far is TEETHMATE by Kurrary (we got it in our office now) which does wonders and can be used for a lot of different situations.