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 'desensitivize' sensitive teeth.
Sensitive teeth most often cause pain when people eat or drink something very cold like ice cream, iced lemonade or a cold beer. However, some people experience 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 partially exposed tooth nerve.
If this is due to cavities, then the pain is to a certain extent, self-inflicted, because everybody should go to see a dentist twice a year for a check up and preventative or corrective work.
Sometimes, however the trouble lies with the fact that the gums are retreating which happens naturally as we get older. The receding gums expose the lower parts of the teeth and consequently the roots as well.
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.
Corrective action is difficult, pre-emptive action is not. Unfortunately, many people were taught how to brush their teeth rather poorly. For decades, children were taught to scrub at their teeth to get them clean, but a side effect of that rough brush work, is to steadily push the gums back off your teeth. It may take decades, but it is likely to happen and this will result in sensitive teeth.
Current guidance is to brush lightly 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 help 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 thing you can try is using mouth wash containing fluoride. There are dozens of them in any pharmacy, so you will have to sample a few until you find one that works for you. A couple of suggestions are to first test 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 very 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 cause pain when people eat or drink something very cold like ice cream, iced lemonade or a cold beer. However, some people experience 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 partially exposed tooth nerve.
If this is due to cavities, then the pain is to a certain extent, self-inflicted, because everybody should go to see a dentist twice a year for a check up and preventative or corrective work.
Sometimes, however the trouble lies with the fact that the gums are retreating which happens naturally as we get older. The receding gums expose the lower parts of the teeth and consequently the roots as well.
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.
Corrective action is difficult, pre-emptive action is not. Unfortunately, many people were taught how to brush their teeth rather poorly. For decades, children were taught to scrub at their teeth to get them clean, but a side effect of that rough brush work, is to steadily push the gums back off your teeth. It may take decades, but it is likely to happen and this will result in sensitive teeth.
Current guidance is to brush lightly 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 help 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 thing you can try is using mouth wash containing fluoride. There are dozens of them in any pharmacy, so you will have to sample a few until you find one that works for you. A couple of suggestions are to first test 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 very 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.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently concerned with researching britesmile teeth whitening. If you would like to know more or check out great offers, please go to our website at Opalescence Tooth Whitening Systems
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