Tooth Sensitivity

Ganluan

A couple days ago, I noticed one area of my mouth was pretty sensitive to both cold and hot. I went in to the dentist today and he couldn't find anything wrong with the tooth (after isolating it using a cold q-tip). There's no cracking or decay that he can see, so he put some flouride on it and said it will hopefully go away soon.

Has this happened to anyone else? It seems strange to have a tooth become so sensitive out of nowhere, and nothing seems to be wrong with it.

EggyToast

Yeah, it's happened to me. I think this happens to most people. I mentioned it to my dentist and he did the same thing, gave it a look over, an x-ray, and said that everything appears to be fine with the tooth. He said that it didn't mean it wasn't sensitive, and he suggested I try some sensitive-oriented toothpaste, like sensodyne. He said that those toothpastes work by containing a small amount of tin, and by brushing with them, the tin is pushed into the enamel of your teeth, providing a sort of barrier of sorts. I don't pretend to fully understand toothpaste technology, but I tried it out and it seemed to do something. He said that you need to use the toothpaste consistently or else it'll wear off, so he said "try it out, if it works, then you know, and you can decide if you want to stick with it or see if it was just a temporary thing.

I have some deep fillings that tend to be sensitive, so I figured it wasn't worth it, but he said it's common and often goes away after a short while. He said it could be because you chewed something hard, or brushed hard in one spot for some reason, or a couple other reasons.

Ganluan

Have you continued to use the toothpaste or did it eventually go away?

bowen

Teeth can get burned (somewhat) too, just like your tongue. Eat anything really hot lately that burned your tongue?

EggyToast

Ganluan wrote: »

Have you continued to use the toothpaste or did it eventually go away?

I used it for a while and it seemed to have helped. I stopped buying it and the area with the filling is a little more sensitive to very hot/cold, but not as bad as it was a while back, so I figured I'd save the buck that the special toothpaste costs over plain ol' toothpaste.

kaptein_kaffe

Does milk have some kind of effect regarding this topic? I don't know, I've just heard that drinking milk is good for your teeth and bones.

bowen

Well, it has calcium, which is good for maintaining and building bone.

Darkewolfe

My rear molars have always been (and I imagine always will be) sensitive to cold foods. I've had two dentists specifically look for the problem, and I've had regular check-ups with other dentists several times. I've been told that my teeth are fine and there's pretty much nothing I can do about it. One dentist has observed that I may have... (something) on my rear molars, where the enamel didn't form properly from the get go. Either way, in over ten years of having the problem I have never found a satisfactory solution other than, "Be careful when eating ice cream."

Casually Hardcore

I have the same problem and the best thing I can recommend is this

Duffel

I think everybody's pretty sensitive to extremes in temperatures on their teeth. I would advise against eating/drinking lots of acidic foods, and drink milk unless you're allergic to it or something.

Ganluan

What sucks is this isn't just a bit of sensitivity, it's a very sharp pain when anything remotely cold/hot touches the tooth. Unfortunately I can't try to eat on the other side really, because the tooth is close to the middle. Hopefully the toothpaste will help, I picked some up today.

Corvus

ethugs4life wrote: »

I have the same problem and the best thing I can recommend is this

I use the Arm and Hammer Sensitive tooth paste. Same percentage of the active ingredient as sensodyne, and usually cheaper to boot. Of course, if you haven't been using baking soda tooth pastes, its going to taste like hell for the first few times you try it.

lordswing

I had this problem too, my dentist just said to floss better. I've been flossing more often and better now, and it went away after a week or so. He didn't say anything about a toothpaste, which is odd when looking through this thread. I had x-rays taken as well, I think he said I was losing calcium around that tooth, not sure how flossing would make it better though.

ceres

Switching to a sensitivity toothpaste is a good step to take. I get weird shit going on with my teeth once in a while, and you know what? About 95% of the time it's actually a sinus problem. I always go in to see the dentist to make sure, and he always tells me the same thing: take some sinus medication and use sensitivity toothpaste until it goes away. There's a nerve that runs along the roots of your teeth, from about cheekbone to cheekbone passing right under your nose. In some people, if their sinuses swell even a little, it puts pressure on that nerve and causes everything from sensitivity to horrible, God-kill-me-now pain.

It didn't start for me until I was about 23 or so, and when it happens I get the sensitivity and also the crippling pain for about a week.

Ganluan

The sinus thing is interesting - I normally have pretty wicked allergies during this time of year, but being on Nasonex has eliminated them. Maybe I should try taking an antihistamine or Sudafed for a bit as well and see if it helps alleviate it.

GameHat

I have pretty bad tooth sensitivity - for me, it's my upper teeth, highly sensitive to cold.

What helps:

Regular flossing. If I skip on the flossing my gums recede a bit, leaving sensitive tooth/root more exposed.
"Sensitive" toothpaste. Minor effect, but over time it does help a bit.
Gentle toothbrushing. I gently brush, rather than scour.
Conditioning. I don't drink ice cold liquids from a glass (PAIN). I don't eat ice cream (EPIC PAIN). When I drink through a straw I've learned to aim it at the top of my mouth.

What hasn't helped:
Tooth grinding. When I get stressed, I clench my jaw and grind my teeth. This amplifies the problem so I try to prevent it.
A dentist.

My last dentist convinced me that though I had cold sensitivity on like eight teeth, it could all be resolved by having a root canal on one particular tooth. Damn him. I went through that gross procedure only to find absolutely no change in the sensitivity on the remaining teeth. Plus there was a large bill on for the procedure. I dropped him for a better dentist, who basically told me to live with it.

...though I don't want to dissaude you from proper dental care. See your dentist!