Does it hurt your teeth when you drink hot tea?
When you come to Kings Dental Subiaco, our dental team can help prevent any further tooth sensitivity from occurring whilst also treating the underlying cause. We want you to help you to be able to eat and drink whatever you want without concern about discomfort. Great!
With that in mind, what are some of the leading causes of dental sensitivity? Our team at Kings Dental Subiaco answers that question below.
Holes
In this sense, a hole in your tooth is not the same as a cavity.
According to our dentist Subiaco, the leading cause of sensitive teeth is microscopic holes in the dentine that allow hot and cold stimuli to gain access to the nerves and pulp of the tooth.
There are many causes for these holes to form, which we will discuss in more depth later. The main symptom is discomfort when consuming hot or cold foods. If we suspect that such holes are the cause of your oral sensitivity, we may offer you a fluoride sealant that can close the holes off temporarily and will usually need to be reapplied every 6 months.
Cavities
If you have a cavity, it is likely to be intermittently painful, especially if you drink hot coffee!
As above, this is because there is now a hole that exposes your dental nerves to hot and cold stimuli, causing you discomfort.
Luckily, our team can remedy this by filling in the cavity or, if the damage is a bit more extensive, we can fit a crown to solve the decay and rebuild the tooth. And, of course, a key way that you can prevent cavities is to attend dental checkups with our team every 6 months and keep the sugar in your diet to a minimum.
Grinding
A more insidious issue, tooth grinding at night can also lead to oral sensitivity.
A good way to picture this is to compare your teeth to a brick; if you keep rubbing it against a stone, it will eventually begin to crack and erode, which is in essence how teeth grinding causes sensitivity.
Our dentist Subiaco can offer a myriad of treatment options for nocturnal grinding, the most common one being a mouthguard to prevent your molars from rubbing together.
Diet
Oh yes! Your diet can cause your teeth to hurt, especially if you indulge in highly acidic foods, such as coffee or soda.
Acid can dissolve the enamel on your tooth and, thus, it can expose those microscopic holes to air. Luckily, we can assuage this by applying fluoride sealants and, if needed, veneers or bonding to protect the tooth from any further sensitivity.
We can also offer you advice on how to consume a more balanced diet to prevent a recurrence.
Hard brushing
Brushing harder doesn’t equate to cleaner teeth!
So if you have sensitive teeth and we determine that you are brushing too hard, our dentist Subiaco will likely recommend that you switch to a soft-bristled brush and guide you on how to brush your teeth correctly. We may also be able to offer fluoride sealants.
DISCLAIMER
All treatment carries risks. Individual consultation is required with one of our practitioners to ensure that the treatment is right for you.