Many people have sensitive teeth. In fact, millions of people suffer discomfort or even pain from eating their favourite foods and drinking their favourite drinks. However, in the majority of cases, there is a lot that can be done to desensitize sensitive teeth.
Sensitive teeth most often trigger pain when people eat or drink something very cold like ice cream, iced lemonade or a cold beer. However, some people face the problem when they eat hot foods too. Some even get trouble when they breathe cold air. These examples of pain from sensitive teeth usually come from a partly exposed tooth nerve.
If this is due to cavities, then the pain is to a large extent, self-inflicted, because everybody should go to see a dentist twice a year for a check up and pre-emptive or corrective work.
Sometimes, however the trouble lies with the fact that the gums are retreating which occurs naturally as we get older. The receding gums expose the lower parts of the teeth and thus the roots too.
In this case, the pain essentially occurs because the exposed root has tubules which run to your nerves. Any pressure on these will be fed to the nerves resulting in pain.
Remedial action is difficult, pre-emptive action is not. Unfortunately, many people were instructed how to brush their teeth quite badly. For decades, children were taught to scrub at their teeth to get them clean, but a side effect of that harsh brush work, is to steadily push the gums back off your teeth. It may take decades, but it is almost certain to happen and this will result in sensitive teeth.
Current guidance is to brush gently and never towards your gums, always away from them. Modern tooth pastes are so much better than they were decades ago, so they do not need so much assistance to get your teeth clean.
If, however, you are in the sad position of already having sensitive teeth, there may still be something you can do about it. Potassium nitrite will help 'desensitivize' your teeth, so you should look for a tooth paste that contains this chemical. It can be found in several preparations for sensitive teeth including Sensodyne tooth paste, which is recommended by dentists for this task all over the world.
Another method you can try is using mouth wash containing fluoride. There are dozens of them in any pharmacy, so you will have to try a few until you find one that works for you. A couple of tips are to first try the brands of mouth wash that contain high levels of fluoride and brands that do not contain alcohol. Some seem to burn your mouth, but others do not.
If these suggestions have no effect, then you are incredibly unlucky, and there is nothing for it but to go to the dentist. A dentist deals with sensitive teeth every working day, and there are new products coming onto the market all the time, so go along to your dental surgery and let them sort out your sensitive teeth.
Sensitive teeth most often trigger pain when people eat or drink something very cold like ice cream, iced lemonade or a cold beer. However, some people face the problem when they eat hot foods too. Some even get trouble when they breathe cold air. These examples of pain from sensitive teeth usually come from a partly exposed tooth nerve.
If this is due to cavities, then the pain is to a large extent, self-inflicted, because everybody should go to see a dentist twice a year for a check up and pre-emptive or corrective work.
Sometimes, however the trouble lies with the fact that the gums are retreating which occurs naturally as we get older. The receding gums expose the lower parts of the teeth and thus the roots too.
In this case, the pain essentially occurs because the exposed root has tubules which run to your nerves. Any pressure on these will be fed to the nerves resulting in pain.
Remedial action is difficult, pre-emptive action is not. Unfortunately, many people were instructed how to brush their teeth quite badly. For decades, children were taught to scrub at their teeth to get them clean, but a side effect of that harsh brush work, is to steadily push the gums back off your teeth. It may take decades, but it is almost certain to happen and this will result in sensitive teeth.
Current guidance is to brush gently and never towards your gums, always away from them. Modern tooth pastes are so much better than they were decades ago, so they do not need so much assistance to get your teeth clean.
If, however, you are in the sad position of already having sensitive teeth, there may still be something you can do about it. Potassium nitrite will help 'desensitivize' your teeth, so you should look for a tooth paste that contains this chemical. It can be found in several preparations for sensitive teeth including Sensodyne tooth paste, which is recommended by dentists for this task all over the world.
Another method you can try is using mouth wash containing fluoride. There are dozens of them in any pharmacy, so you will have to try a few until you find one that works for you. A couple of tips are to first try the brands of mouth wash that contain high levels of fluoride and brands that do not contain alcohol. Some seem to burn your mouth, but others do not.
If these suggestions have no effect, then you are incredibly unlucky, and there is nothing for it but to go to the dentist. A dentist deals with sensitive teeth every working day, and there are new products coming onto the market all the time, so go along to your dental surgery and let them sort out your sensitive teeth.
