When Aunt Zhao ate sour and sweet food in the past month, she would feel uncomfortable in her teeth. After a series of examinations, the doctor found that Aunt Zhao's gums had shrunk badly, and some of the root of the teeth had been exposed. Although Aunt Zhao underwent a sound periodontal basic treatment, the alveolar bone resorption and gum atrophy that had been formed could not be recovered, so sensitive symptoms were produced.
Uncle Li has been having sensitive teeth for more than 1 year. He likes to eat nuts and brittle bones, and long-term wear and tear causes the enamel layer on the surface of the teeth to disappear and the sensitive dentin to be exposed. The doctor suggested that Uncle Li first change his habit of eating hard food before receiving further treatment.
At a young age, Mr. Wang was also deeply troubled by tooth sensitivity. He likes to drink carbonated drinks after exercise, and does not have the habit of rinsing his mouth in time, resulting in the tooth surface becoming more and more sensitive, fortunately the doctor did not find caries after examination.
The above tooth sensitivities of Aunt Zhao, Uncle Li and Wang are collectively referred to as dentin sensitivity in the Department of Stomatology. What exactly does dentin sensitivity mean? What other manifestations can be called dentin sensitivity?
Hot and cold, sweet and sour, I dare not eat it if I want to eat it
Dentin sensitivity is a brief sharp pain produced by exposed dentin to external stimuli. This pain cannot be attributed to any other form of tooth defect or disease. Typical stimuli include temperature stimulation, blowing stimulation, mechanical stimulation, osmolality stimulation, and chemical stimulation.
Dentin sensitivity manifests itself in a variety of ways, and may be a brief sharp pain during brushing (mechanical stimulation), eating some sweet and sour foods (chemical stimulation), or drinking a hot drink, eating ice cream, or even taking a cold breath (temperature stimulation).
Tooth sensitivity occurs mainly due to the loss of enamel and bone covering the dentin surface, and the tooth loses the strongest coat protection, resulting in dentin tubules opening in the mouth and pulp side after dentin exposure. Any cold, hot, sour, sweet, mechanical stimulus can cause fluid to flow within the dentin tubules, stimulating the nerves to produce pain.
Who moved my tooth enamel?
There are many causes of dentin sensitivity. For example, Uncle Li is due to the wear and tear of teeth caused by eating hard objects, and then dentin exposure; Aunt Zhao is gum recession caused by neck dentin exposure; Wang students love to drink carbonated drinks, tooth enamel is acid erosion after causing dentin exposure.
For some patients who have had a crown or filling, there are some other possible causative factors, such as the edge of the restoration is not tightly matched, excessive subgingival cleaning or root leveling destroys the bone on the surface of the tooth root. These can lead to dentin exposure, which in turn causes symptoms of dentin sensitivity, and the sensitivity is related to the degree and time of dentin exposure.
Relieve tooth sensitivity and believe in science
When you find yourself with dentin sensitivity, how do you solve it?
You can go to the hospital for the help of a doctor. If dentin has been exposed, there are some ways to protect it. If periodontitis causes gum recession, periodontal treatment can eliminate inflammation of the periodontal soft tissues and avoid further harm. If the edges of the restoration or filler are not tightly aligned, they need to be readjusted.
Minor dentin sensitivities can be relieved with desensitizing toothpaste and mouthwash. The common desensitized toothpaste on the market is to seal the dentin tubule through potassium salt, strontium salt and other substances to prevent sensitive pain. However, some people do not rinse their mouths when brushing their teeth, and let the toothpaste stay on the teeth for an extra half hour. Not only does this not help relieve tooth sensitivity, but it also irritates the oral mucosa and gum tissue.
If you still can't relieve it after using desensitized toothpaste, you should still seek the help of a doctor. Depending on the exposure of the dentin, doctors will use methods such as drug desensitization, lasers, or filling repair to solve the patient's problem. For patients with minor exposure to dentin without significant defects, doctors use desensitizing medications to address 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 use times and dosages, and the general method is to rub the affected area and produce new substances to block the dentin tubules through chemical reactions, thus playing a desensitizing effect.
Laser is also a treatment for dentin sensitivity, which can be divided into low output power and medium output power according to the output power, and its principle is not very different. However, the cost of laser treatment methods is relatively high, the instrument volume is large, the treatment course is long, the use is inconvenient, and the clinical application is relatively not extensive. If both the desensitization medication and the laser treatment fail to have a significant effect and the patient is still in pain, the doctor will consider a treatment plan for filling repair or demullination.
Author: Zhang Chen, chief physician of the Department of Endodontics, Beijing Stomatological Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University
Review: Expert of the National Health Science Popularization Expert Database
Professor Zheng Shuguo of Peking University Stomatological Hospital
Curator: Tan Jia
Editor: Wang Jianying