TOOTH SENSITIVITY

Overview

Tooth sensitivity is often described as a sharp pain from the teeth resulting from stimuli such as:

• eating
• brushing
• drinking hot or cold drinks or sucking air through the teeth
• consuming sweet, sour or acidic foods

The pain can range from a few minutes to quite a while.

Causes
Teeth are sensitive when the outer layer, enamel is lost, exposing the dentine, which is porous and conducts stimuli to nerve endings in the pulp. Your dentine may be exposed in the crown or root portion of the tooth, eg through:

• Dental decay
• Fractured or chipped teeth
• Teeth grinding during sleep leading to fractures of tooth portions gumline (abfraction cavities)
• Gum recession through gum disease or too vigorous brushing of teeth
• Excessive tooth wear

Some dental procedures can induce a transient tooth sensitivity:

• New fillings or crown and bridgework
• Post bleaching sensitivity

Risk factors
You may develop tooth sensitivity if you:

• have gum disease which may lead to gum recession
• chew excessively on hard food
• grind your teeth during sleep
• are bulimic
• have gastro-oesophageal reflux
• have dry mouth as is common with radiotherapy of the head and neck region

Treatment
Treatment will depend on cause. Dentine sensitivity due to gum recession is usually treated by:

• application of chemical agents to desensitize affected areas, and use of a desensitizing tooth paste at home
• covering up affected areas with fillings
• crowning severly worn teeth

Abfraction fractures due to the flaking of enamel from night grinding