Introduction
It is not uncommon for teeth, especially when consuming alcoholic beverages, to react sensitively or even develop pain. A pulling pain is felt, which can last for a few seconds. Especially when drinking alcoholic beverages containing a lot of sugar, such as cocktails, the teeth can react sensitively and even hurt a lot.
Causes
In the oral cavity there is usually a pH value of about 7, which is mainly formed by saliva. The main component of alcohol, ethanol, has a pH value of about 5 and is therefore more acidic than the optimal value. The teeth are attacked by the acidic property of ethanol and the tooth enamel, the uppermost layer of the tooth, is roughened and thus weakened.
Ethanol has a vasodilatory effect in alcoholic beverages and can therefore also irritate the nerve tracts in the tooth. But often ethanol is not the only main reason for the pain, other components of mixed drinks cause problems. Since alcoholic drinks usually contain a lot of sugar, which the bacteria in the oral cavity feed on and excrete acids after digestion, the teeth are now doubly burdened.
The tooth is burdened by the actual acidic property of alcohol and after the digestion process of the bacteria is again burdened with acids. These in turn attack the tooth enamel and cause the well-known pulling toothache, especially with particularly sweet alcoholic drinks. If the upper layer of enamel is thinner due to these stresses, the tooth has almost lost its natural protective layer and reacts very sensitively to acids, sugar and also to pressure loads such as when chewing food. If the tooth is already decayed and has a cavity, the consumption of alcohol can cause unbearable pain.
What can you do against toothache after alcohol consumption?
Brushing your teeth is already half the battle. First and foremost, it is important to clean your teeth regularly, i.e. to brush them. The substance that keeps the tooth healthy is called fluoride.
It is to a certain extent preserved in toothpaste and helps to protect the outermost layer of the tooth from acid attacks and to restore the optimal mouth pH. It is important to brush the teeth after drinking alcohol so that they can recover from acid exposure during the night. As a further measure, once a week the teeth can be sealed with a higher concentrated fluoride gel.
The gel, which is available over the counter at the pharmacy, is applied to the teeth with a toothbrush and left on without rinsing. After application, you should not eat or drink for half an hour to an hour for optimal effect. With this measure you can protect your teeth for a long time, so that the consumption of alcohol remains a pleasure even afterwards and the teeth remain robust against all acid attacks.
The dentist has fluoride products, which are much more concentrated and can protect the tooth even better. Duraphat and and Bifluoid can relieve the tooth from pain if the defect is not too large. But if the tooth already has a cavity and the pain lasts much longer, fluoridating drugs usually do not help anymore.
Temporarily, only painkillers can provide relief, but these cannot heal the tooth. As a temporary solution, however, painkillers can certainly be used for toothache. However, the pain will never disappear completely and can then become more and more and even worse over weeks and months and can only be treated by a dental filling at the dentist. The dentist then uses the plastic material with which he fills the existing hole in the tooth to restore the outer protective layer of the tooth to make it insensitive to pain.
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