Sensitivity in the mouth can be extremely frustrating! You may be avoiding certain foods. You may even be asking your waiter to microwave your salad to warm it up a bit at your favorite restaurant. It’s painful! Fortunately, it’s typically a very simple problem. Most cases of tooth- or root-surface sensitivity are caused by the exposure of a specific tooth structure that has small little tubes in it that run towards the nerve within the tooth. Eliminating this sensitivity requires a two-pronged approach. The first step is to understand that the cleaner you keep the teeth and roots the better you’ll feel (so make sure to keep up with those routine cleanings!).
It can seem a little counterintuitive since it may be painful to brush and floss at first. But what’s going on is the plaque in our mouths is producing acids, and that’s what is opening up these little tubes in the teeth and creating the sensitivity. So, constantly removing the plaque morning and night will remove the acid from the teeth, which will allow for the second prong of the cure to work. We have prescription toothpaste which is 1.1% fluoride as opposed to 0.22% fluoride found in over the counter toothpaste. What this will do is provide 5 times more calcium to the surface of the tooth, helping to repair and seal these open tubes in your teeth. See, the fluoride binds to the calcium in your saliva, and they both bind to the surface of the tooth. All you have to do is switch your toothpaste! It’s not even an extra step or something else you have to do that you are not already doing. Keeping the teeth super clean and switching to this prescription toothpaste will typically eliminate tooth sensitivity in 4-6 weeks!
