A mind boggling 93% of the world population suffer from some form of dental pain in their life.In most of these cases the culprit is dental hypersensitivity.So common is this disease among the general population that it is given the term infamously "common cold of dentistry".
How does this occur ?
Well.... to understand that you need to first know the basic structure of tooth itself
The tooth mainly has three layers ,the outer most layer the enamel,.middle layer the dentine and the inner most pulp
The enamel beside being hardest n impervious is also non regenerative .so once lost it cannot grow back ,dentin is porous while pulp contains nerve ending which if stimulated causes "pain"
NOW in dental hypersensitivity the tooth enamel gets worn off exposing underlying dentin
Dentine is porous so any chemical agent in oral cavity (read cold drinks etc) or thermal changes in oral cavity causes stimulation of nerves in pulp causing pain.This pain varies in intensity from being mild lingering to very severe n sharp
also characteristically the pain disappears when u stop the stimulus.Thus in patient pain starts as soon as he starts to eat ice cream or have a very hot coffee ,but disappear in few minutes when he stops eating that ice cream or hot coffee
How to deal will this ............well the patient Can try tooth paste like like SENSODENT ,THERMOSEAL.These especially designed over the counter paste block the porous dentine preventing stimuli of nerves,preventing pain .Rubbing the traditional neem ki datun over exposed dentin also serves a similar purpose.This can be effective only if used for at least 2 to three months
If these self help treatment fail than u need to visit a dentist who try various in office treatment options.He might cover the exposed dentine with restorative material which will provide immediate relief
sometimes dentinal sensitivity may be caused due to the e disease of gums( alis periodontitis) resulting in exposed root dentine
in this case the dentist Will need u to do scaling and root planning along with surgical correction of gums if needed
well prevention is always better then cure so .preventive steps of dental hypersensitivity are mainly aimed avoiding loss of enamel layer of the tooth
for exactly this purpose the dentist always recommend a soft tooth brush
you should also avoid applying excessive pressure during toothbrush
a gentle continuous motion is all that is needed
Also a patient must visit a dentist regularly in 6 to 8 months, this allows the dentist to make an early diagnosis and take quick and timely remedial steps
Dental hypersensitivity affects a large population ,most people in their ignorance don't realize how easy it is to treat the lingering dental pain .A simple visit to dentist can enable u to enjoy pain free good oral health
