Heightened sensitivity of dental tissue to external stimuli is not considered a dental disease. However, almost half of the dentist's patients come to the appointment complaining of sensitive teeth. Hyperesthesia can develop not only due to mechanical damage to tooth enamel, but also due to incorrect treatment of caries, gum disease, and even exacerbation of gastrointestinal diseases. The patient may experience such acute pain that he even has to refuse food. Therefore, sensitive teeth require careful treatment depending on the cause of hyperesthesia.
How hyperesthesia manifests itself and why there are sensitive teeth
The fact that the patient has hyperesthesia of the teeth is evidenced by his complaints of sharp pain at the moment when irritating food is in the mouth, and the disappearance of pain after removal this irritant. Sensitive teeth may react with sharp pain or discomfort when brushing your teeth, ingesting cold air or hot tea, sweets or spices.
The essence of the phenomenon of hyperesthesia is as follows. Under the protective layer of dense tooth enamel are dentinal tubules, in which there are nerve endings. If the enamel is destroyed or thinned for some reason, then external stimuli act on the nerve endings in the dentinal tubules, and the patient feels pain.
Reasons for tooth hyperesthesia:
- damage to tooth enamel due to non-carious lesions – erosion, wedge-shaped defects, enamel wear;
- tooth injuries – chips, enamel cracks, hard bleaching;
- enamel demineralization due to development of cervical caries;
- incorrect treatment of caries with poor filling technique, when the etching of the teeth violates the integrity of the enamel;
- periodontal disease, in which the cervical part of the teeth is exposed;
- poor-quality crowns, dentures, damage to the gums from toothpicks and dental floss;
- metabolic disorders in the body;
- psychoneurological and endocrine diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, hormonal failures.
Sensitive teeth hurt more if the patient has untreated caries.
Manifestations of hyperesthesia and treatment of sensitive teeth
If the hyperesthesia is insignificant, the patient complains of discomfort with thermal stimuli. The average degree of sensitivity of the teeth makes the patient react painfully not only to cold and hot, but also to chemical stimuli. With deep hyperesthesia, the patient feels acute pain not only to irritants, but even when touching the teeth with the tongue, cheek. Such pain makes it impossible to take care of your teeth and provokes the appearance of caries, plaque, gum disease, and other oral diseases.
The essence of the treatment of sensitive teeth is as follows. Firstly, preparations of potassium salts can be used, while ions accumulate around the nerve endings in the dentinal tubules and create a protective sheath, blocking the transmission of pain impulses. Secondly, preparations with calcium or fluoride ions, sometimes magnesium, can be effective, which block the dentinal tubules, which stops the outflow of dental fluid, the pressure inside the tubules stabilizes, and the pain reaction to stimuli decreases. The treatment is supplemented with special toothpastes, which, due to the diverse composition of microelements, strengthen tooth enamel and prevent the development of hyperesthesia.
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