Almost everyone has experienced it: suddenly sensitive teeth, a tooth hurts when drinking, cold pain or even a toothache when eating sweets such as chocolate. These complaints can be very unpleasant. The causes of pain-sensitive teeth, especially teeth sensitive to heat and cold, pain when brushing teeth and sensitivity to sweet or sour foods can be very diverse. What’s behind it and what remedies you can use to help yourself, you can find out here.
Causes: Where do pain-sensitive teeth come from?
Pain-sensitive teeth usually indicate a disease in the oral cavity, but can also be the result of dental treatment. If the latter is the case, it is most likely due to the fact that many dental treatments involve grinding away part of the intact tooth substance by default. As a result, the teeth are less protected from external influences and therefore react more sensitively.
Teeth sensitive to pain after the insertion of a crown.
If you insert a new dental crown in tooth preservation, the affected tooth must first be ground into shape before the new crown can be placed. Grinding deprives the tooth of its natural protective barrier, making it more sensitive to external stimuli, especially after crowns have been placed around the neck of the tooth. These stimuli can be temperatures, as when drinking coffee or ice cream, but also sweet or sour food. Symptoms include a pulling sensation in the teeth to an uncomfortable toothache and particular sensitivity of the teeth.
Tooth sensitivity after a filling
Even in minor procedures, such as the treatment of caries, the tooth must be drilled out in the diseased area to remove the pathogens (bacteria). In such a case, the tooth has already been attacked by the disease and may have been damaged. Subsequently, more tooth substance is removed by drilling in order to insert a filling afterwards. The natural protection of the tooth is thus disturbed. The consequences are also noticeable here: no filling replaces healthy tooth substance, so that symptoms such as temperature-sensitive teeth or a reaction to sweets can occur after a filling has been placed.
Sensitive teeth after bleaching
If you have your teeth bleached (whitened) for aesthetic reasons, this usually affects the front teeth (anterior teeth). The principle of bleaching is as follows: You remove the top layer of enamel to reveal the lighter layer underneath. For this purpose, the dentist uses a highly concentrated whitening agent and UV light. The whitening agent attacks the enamel and slightly dissolves it. Due to the removal of the enamel and thus the loss of a small part of the protective layer of the tooth, a short time after bleaching, teeth are often extremely sensitive to cold or heat (for example, when inhaling or drinking). In addition, the teeth are also sensitized to sweet things, such as chocolate, or sour things, such as orange juice, and react with toothache. Typically, these symptoms occur up to about ten days after bleaching.
Suddenly sensitive teeth due to disease attack.
Toothache and sudden cold-sensitive teeth can also occur due to disease. Possible causes include:
- Caries (“hole in the tooth”)
- Inflammation of the gums (gingivitis)
- Inflammation of the periodontium (periodontitis).
Recognize oral diseases – these pictures help!
Where does pain come from when brushing teeth?
Most often, one of the above disease-related causes is the reason for problems when brushing teeth. The molars are particularly susceptible to tooth decay because they are located further back and, in some people, have very deep fissures (depressions in the chewing surface). This makes careful brushing more difficult and may provide the perfect habitat for microorganisms such as bacteria. So a molar that is sensitive to cold is often due to bacteria whose acidic metabolites attack and damage the tooth. If the gums often hurt and bleed when brushing, this may on the one hand indicate that the toothbrush is too hard or the brushing technique is too rough, which can lead to injury and receding gums. On the other hand, this may already be a sign of inflammation.Deep tooth pockets and plaque can lead to an inflammation caused by bacteria, which can develop into periodontitis in the long term. Periodontitis is the inflammation of the periodontium and can also lead to tooth loss if it progresses badly. If inflammation of the gums or periodontium is suspected, a visit to the dentist is therefore advisable. Under no circumstances should pain when brushing the teeth lead to neglect of oral hygiene. Therefore, always consult your dentist if you have teeth that are sensitive to pain.
Can stress affect the teeth?
Stress can also be a trigger for toothache. People, when they are tense, tend to unconsciously tense their jaw muscles as well. Clenching and also grinding teeth at night wears away tooth substance and damages the teeth. In addition, it can lead to pain in the jaw joint. To prevent this, a plastic splint is often prescribed to protect the teeth – a so-called grinding splint. In a sense, stress can also affect the immune system, so an inflammation or bacterial infection may progress more quickly under stress or may even be triggered by stress. For example, a cold can also help increase inflammation or bacteria in the mouth because the immune system is otherwise busy and overworked. In addition, there are so-called psychosomatic toothaches, which – similar to stress-related headaches – are not due to a disease-related cause. Often, even the thought of a visit to the dentist is enough for a toothache to arise.
Painful teeth during pregnancy or menopause.
Often women in pregnancy complain of toothache, especially very sensitive gums, in addition to back pain and pain in the limbs. The stress, as well as the hormonal changes during pregnancy, can negatively affect the immune system, making it harder for the body to fight off a bacterial attack or infection. In addition, the increased blood circulation due to hormonal and daily stress can also cause swollen and sensitive gums. Thus, women are often more susceptible to oral infections during pregnancy. The female body also undergoes a hormonal change during menopause, which can affect the mucous membranes in the mouth as well as the gums, just as it does during pregnancy. The consequences are a higher susceptibility to sensitive swollen gums, gingivitis as well as periodontitis.
Can alcohol consumption affect teeth?
Alcohol attacks and discolors teeth, and it also suppresses the immune system, making it easier for pathogens to spread. The risk of developing caries and periodontitis is therefore increased by alcohol consumption. It does not matter in which drink alcohol is consumed. However, the drinks that are consumed in conjunction with alcohol can also be harmful to the teeth. They often contain a lot of sugar and thus promote bacteria that can lead to gingivitis or caries. The acid metabolites of these bacteria are also responsible for discoloration of the teeth. Continuous alcohol consumption over a long period of time is very unhealthy for the body for a variety of reasons. The teeth can also be damaged in the long term, because the stomach often reacts to too much alcohol with an overproduction of gastric acid. One symptom of this is, for example, heartburn, the “acid regurgitation”. If stomach acid reaches the mouth, it attacks the teeth and gums and leads to inflammation, tooth decay and discoloration of the teeth. Alcohol also has a vasodilatory effect and can irritate the dental nerve. In addition, permanent alcohol consumption promotes nocturnal grinding.
How can you prevent problems with gums and what helps?
Good oral hygiene is essential to prevent pain-sensitive teeth. This means:
- Regular and proper brushing of teeth
- The use of gentle toothbrushes (possibly with soft bristles).
- The use of dental floss to also remove food debris and plaque in the interdental spaces.
- The use of mouthwash
A mouthwash has a disinfecting and refreshing effect. This can and should be used at least after each brushing or more often. In addition, mouthwashes also help against unpleasant bad breath.If you don’t want to buy a mouthwash, rinsing with chamomile tea as a home remedy is also a good alternative. This has an anti-inflammatory effect and also promotes blood circulation to the gums. In case of bleeding gums, redness and swelling, it is definitely advisable to visit the dentist to prevent a worse course. He can also recommend ointments, which you can get in any pharmacy, and can also prescribe medication if necessary.
How can you prevent tooth decay?
The most important measures to protect teeth from caries are regular, proper brushing, as well as making sure to remove food debris on and between teeth well after meals. Often, deep fissures in the molars are the perfect place for bacteria to grow, as it is often not possible to brush sufficiently here. A dental treatment in the sense of a sealing can already help a lot in such cases. In this case, the deep fissures are usually filled with some plastic. The depressions are then no longer so deep, so that brushing is easier and bacteria can no longer settle well.
What to do about pain-sensitive teeth?
A good remedy for teeth sensitive to cold is fluoride toothpaste, which regenerates the natural protection of the tooth. This strengthens the tooth and can relieve pain sensitivity. Such a product is, for example, Elmex jelly, which is often used during professional teeth cleaning at the dentist. Many other manufacturers also offer fluoride toothpaste, which strengthens tooth enamel. Whitening toothpastes, which are supposed to make teeth brighter, are not recommended by experts, as they attack the tooth surface rather than strengthen it. A very effective means is also the treatment with dental varnish. This is applied by the dentist mainly to the sensitive tooth necks and closes the open tooth neck channels, which are responsible for the pain transmission. In addition, the varnish contains fluoride and can therefore even strengthen the tooth and promote regeneration. For acute pain complaints, one can resort to in addition magnesium.
Homeopathy for pain-sensitive teeth.
Naturally occurring substances are also said to be able to relieve pain sensitivity, such as Hypericum. This remedy is based on the effects of St. John’s wort and is said to help with permanently sensitive teeth and pain. If sensitive teeth occur intermittently, Aconitum can also be used. Aconitum is based on aconite and is said to have a pain-relieving effect in addition to its anti-anxiety effect. Both substances are available in the form of globules or tablets. They can be taken supportively for inflammation in the mouth, such as gingivitis or periodontitis, but also for pain-sensitive teeth.
