Ever wondered, why you can’t take up cold, hot or even sweet things in your mouth, without getting aching feeling in your mouth. In some extreme cases, patients can’t even touch their tooth with their tongue or other teeth. In such cases, it is advisable to consult a dentist for your treatment.
Most people ignore this pain due to lack of time and money. Some others simply ignore it that is nothing of concern and dismiss it, altogether. But the fact is that it is a kind of tooth condition, when people have to suffer from pain, as and when they consume anything that hurts their tooth.
There are generally two types of tooth sensitivity:
Dentinal: Dentin, the middle layer of tooth is covered and protected by enamel above the gum line and centum below the gum line. Tooth’s center has a nerve branch, emerging from tooth pulp.
After prolonged neglect, dentin and centum are stripped-off leading to exposure of inner dentin. This dentin has nerve center in it which gets exposed to hot and cold liquid and creates sensitivity. It’s actually the nerves which get affected and cause dentinal sensitivity. One or more teeth can be affected by dentinal sensitivity.
Pulpal: The center of tooth constitutes blood vessels and nerves. When, the pulp of teeth gets exposed to different temperatures, then it causes sensitivity, known as pulpal sensitivity. It is generally connected with single tooth.
Causes of Sensitive teeth are:
o Poor oral hygiene
o Vigorous brushing of teeth, leading to destruction of enamel of teeth
o Tooth wearing for longer time.
o A filling which gets cracked over a period of time
o High consumption of acidic foods or beverages
o Tooth whitening with poor roots and excessive tooth whitening
o Untreated cavities
o Improper surgery in which roots of teeth are exposed
o An infection in tooth
o Broken or cracked tooth
All these problems are avoidable and treatment is also available for them. Therefore, it is better to have proper oral hygiene. Brushing twice a day, using soft brush, have proper and timely dental check-up and keep proper record of all visits help in prevention of sensitive teeth in most cases.