Aunt Zhao often feels uncomfortable in her teeth when she eats sour and sweet food for the past month. After a series of examinations, the doctor found that Aunt Zhao’s gums had receded so much that some of the roots of the teeth had been exposed. Although Aunt Zhao has undergone perfect periodontal basic treatment, the alveolar bone resorption and gingival recession that have been formed cannot be recovered, resulting in sensitive symptoms.
Uncle Li has been suffering from tooth sensitivity for over a year. He likes eating nuts and brittle bones, and long-term wear and tear has caused the enamel layer on the surface of the teeth to disappear, exposing sensitive dentin. The doctor suggested that Uncle Li first get rid of his habit of eating hard foods before receiving further treatment.
Student Wang suffers from tooth sensitivity at a young age. He likes to drinking carbonated drinks after exercise, and he does not have the habit of gargling his mouth in time, resulting in more and more sensitive teeth. Fortunately, the doctor did not find caries after examination.
The above tooth sensitivity of Aunt Zhao, Uncle Li and Student Wang is collectively referred to as Dental hypersensitivity in the Department of Stomatology. What exactly is dentin hypersensitivity? What else can be called dentin hypersensitivity?
https://Hot and sour, sweet and sour, if you want to eat it, but dare not eat it
Dentin hypersensitivity is a brief, sharp pain caused by exposed dentine to external stimuli. This pain cannot be attributed to any other form of dental defect or disease. Typical stimuli include temperature, insufflation, mechanical, osmotic, and chemical.
Dentin hypersensitivity can manifest itself in a variety of ways, from brushing your teeth (mechanical stimulation), eating sweet and sour foods (chemical stimulation), drinking hot drinks, eating ice cream, or even It is a short-term sharp pain that occurs when you take a breath of cold air (temperature stimulation).
Tooth sensitivity occurs mainly due to the loss of enamel and cementum covering the dentin surface, and the loss of the strongest layer of protection on the teeth, resulting in tooth Dentinal tubules open in the oral and pulpal side after essential exposure. Any cold, heat, acid, sweet, or mechanical stimuli can cause fluid flow in the dentinal tubules, which stimulates nerves to produce pain.
https://Who moved my enamel?
Dentin hypersensitivity can occur for many reasons. For example, Uncle Li’s liking hard food caused the wear and tear of the teeth, and then the dentin was exposed; Aunt Zhao’s neck dentin was exposed because of gingival recession; Love drinking carbonated beverages, the enamel is eroded and the dentin is exposed.
For some patients who have had crowns or fillings, there are other possible contributing factors, such as the misalignment of the restorations, Excessive subgingival scaling or root planing destroys the root surface cementum, etc. All of these will lead to the exposure of dentin, and then cause the symptoms of dentin sensitivity. The degree of sensitivity is related to the degree and time of dentin exposure.
https://Relieve tooth sensitivity, trust science
When you find out that you have dentin hypersensitivity, what should you do?
You can go to the hospital for help from a doctor. If the dentin has been exposed, there are ways to protect the dentin. If periodontitis causes gingival recession, periodontal treatment can eliminate periodontal soft tissue inflammation and avoid further harm. Ifthe edges of the restoration or filling do not fit, readjustment is required.
Minor dentin hypersensitivity can be relieved with desensitizing toothpaste and mouthwash. Common desensitizing toothpastes on the market use potassium salts, strontium salts and other substances to seal the dentinal tubules to prevent sensitive pain. But some people do not rinse their mouths when they brush their teeth, leaving the toothpaste on their teeth for an extra half an hour. Not only does this not help with tooth sensitivity, but it can also irritate the oral mucosa and gum tissue.
If using desensitizing toothpaste doesn’t help, seek medical advice. Depending on the exposure of the dentin, the doctor will use methods such as drug desensitization, laser or filling restoration to solve the patient’s problem. For patients with slightly exposed dentin without obvious defects, doctors will use desensitization drugs to solve the patient’s problem. Commonly used desensitizing drugs include fluoride, strontium chloride, silver ammonium fluoride, silver iodide and resin-based desensitizers. Different desensitization drugs have different usage times and dosages. The general method is to rub the affected area, and generate new substances through chemical reactions to block the dentinal tubules, thereby achieving a desensitization effect.
Laser is also a treatment method for dentin hypersensitivity. According to different output power, it can be divided into low output power and medium output power, and the principles are different. However, the cost of laser treatment is relatively high, the instrument is bulky, the course of treatment is long, and the use is inconvenient, and its clinical application is relatively not widespread. If both desensitization drugs and laser therapy fail to produce significant results, and the patient still feels very painful, the doctor will consider the treatment options of filling repair or demyelination.
Author: Zhang Chen, Chief Physician of Dentistry and Endodontics, Beijing Stomatological Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University
Review: National Health Science Expert Database Expert
Zheng Shuguo, Professor, Peking University Hospital of Stomatology
Planning: Tan Jia
Editor: Wang Jianying