What is dental hyperesthesia and how is it treated?

Hyperesthesia of the teeth is a pathological sensitivity of hard dental tissue, manifested in the occurrence of strong, but short-term pain in response to the use of cold, hot or sweet foods by the patient.

The intensity of pain during hyperesthesia can vary from very slight to severe, which does not allow you to fully eat food or carry out oral hygiene.

Most often, hyperesthesia affects non-carious teeth. When a carious tooth is affected, hypersensitivity usually occurs in one area of ​​the tooth.

Quite often, hyperesthesia is observed when the tooth enamel is thinning, when the enamel reaches the dentin-enamel junction. It is worth noting that the sensitivity of the teeth during abrasion of tooth enamel can be very different. So enamel erosion is almost always accompanied by increased sensitivity of the teeth, while with a wedge-shaped defect it is almost never diagnosed.

In some cases, increased sensitivity of the teeth occurs abruptly. As a rule, this is observed when the tooth necks are exposed by 1-2 mm.

At the moment, scientists distinguish 2 types of hyperesthesia :

• non-systemic hyperesthesia - pain occurs when irritants are exposed to tooth enamel;
• generalized hyperesthesia - occurs in 60-65% of cases. It is usually diagnosed in patients with mental disorders, endocrine disorders, metabolic disorders, infectious diseases, and gastrointestinal pathologies.

Causes

According to statistics, about 50% of the world's population complains of increased tooth sensitivity. Most often, this problem is faced by people aged 30 to 60 years. Women are more likely to suffer from hyperesthesia, while children and the elderly are less likely to get sick. This is due to the fact that in childhood the dental dentin has practically no damage, and in the elderly it is sclerotic, as a result of which sensitivity is lost.

• Hypersensitivity of the teeth is often found in the initial stage of caries, especially if it is located close to the gums. In this case, the tooth becomes too susceptible to the action of acids, resulting in a loss of minerals.
• Quite often, hyperesthesia is a complication of improper treatment of caries and dental fillings.
• Traumatization of the teeth, leading to the occurrence of cracks, chips and breakage of parts of the tooth almost always leads to hyperesthesia of the teeth.
• Teeth whitening, especially when done unprofessionally or at home, often leads to thinning of the enamel and loss of minerals in the teeth, causing the teeth to react painfully to even minor irritants. At the same time, congenital thinning of enamel and untreated carious teeth only exacerbate the situation.
• Some periodontal diseases, improperly installed dental crowns, various mechanical damage to the oral cavity, shortened frenulums of the lips or tongue can lead to gum prolapse and exposure of the neck of the tooth, which is also the cause of increased sensitivity of the teeth.
• Using too hard toothbrushes, improper use of floss, neglecting the isolation of the gums during whitening, too aggressive toothpastes also lead to traumatization and receding gums.
• Increased tooth sensitivity can also occur after improper professional cleaning of the teeth, when the lower part of the tooth is polished too much or damaged by instruments (for example, during the removal of tartar).
• In addition, hyperesthesia of the teeth can occur as a result of hormonal disruptions, diseases of the digestive system, psychopathologies, depression, menopause.

Symptoms of the disease

The most important and only symptom of this disease is the occurrence of pain (from strong to very slight) that lasts from 10 to 30 seconds in response to stimuli. In this case, the pain can spread to one or all teeth.

In this case, the symptoms are divided according to clinical manifestations:

• 1 degree - pain that occurs in response to cold and hot;
• Grade 2 - pain occurs in response to temperature stimuli, as well as from sweet puff, sour and spicy.
• Grade 3 - pain occurs in response to all stimuli.

Treatment of pathology

First of all, in the treatment of hyperesthesia, a special diet should be followed. Its essence lies in the exclusion from the diet of food that is an irritant. In addition, patients are not recommended to consume citrus juices and carbonated drinks, as they adversely affect the enamel. Also, patients should avoid sudden changes in temperature, for example, drinking coffee with ice cream.

Too hard foods such as crackers, seeds or nuts should also be avoided, as they can cause cracks in the tooth enamel. At the same time, you should consume foods high in calcium, phosphorus, fluorine, magnesium, iron (cottage cheese, eggs, seafood, offal) as much as possible.

To reduce tooth sensitivity, doctors usually prescribe medicated toothpastes, elixirs, gels, rinses, foams, and oral medications.

In order for recovery to occur as soon as possible, the treatment of the patient must be comprehensive. In addition, before treatment, the dentist must find out for what reason the patient has a disease, since it may be necessary to treat the underlying pathology first.

In the event that the increased sensitivity of the teeth was caused by receding gums, dentists offer their patients an operation during which the gum rises to a normal level.

If hyperesthesia was caused by gum prolapse and inflammation, then doctors recommend combining surgical treatment with conservative treatment.

With a mild degree of hyperesthesia, treatment can be dispensed with the imposition of special therapeutic applications in the form of fluoride or calcium salts. Such applications are superimposed exclusively on diseased areas of the tooth. As a rule, for a complete cure, the patient needs to do about 10-15 such applications. In more advanced cases, the dentist may suggest that the patient treat the teeth with a special filling material.

In the event that the increased sensitivity of the teeth has arisen as a result of pathological abrasion of tooth enamel (for example, with malocclusion), the dentist may offer orthodontic treatment.

In general, there are a huge number of methods for treating hyperesthesia of the teeth, and the dentist chooses them strictly individually, based on the characteristics of the ball organism, the severity of the disease, the cause of the pathology, etc.

We can say that the techniques that are used to treat hypersensitive teeth already have their own history. And yet every year there are new more effective ways to solve this problem.

So, for example, initially dentists used special substances to solve this problem, which destroyed the organic substance of the hardest part of the tooth. For this purpose, a solution of silver nitrate was most often used, as well as zinc chloride. For the same purpose, toothpastes with a high alkali content were also used.

Further, dentists used substances capable of changing the structure of dental tissues.

At the moment, the approach to the treatment of hypersensitive teeth has changed a lot. So, today doctors use a substance that can penetrate into the teeth (fluorine ion), and replace the missing microelements there, turning into a very stable compound (fluorapatite).

In medical practice, it has been proven that applying 75% fluoride paste to an ultra-sensitive cleaned and pre-greased tooth brings significant relief. Already after 5-10 such procedures, even the most sensitive teeth stop responding with pain to irritants. However, this treatment method also has disadvantages - for example, the reappearance of sensitivity after a while.

In some cases, the doctor may use dikain liquid to relieve severe pain. After applying it to the teeth, after a few minutes, the dentist can begin a full-fledged treatment. But, unfortunately, this method of anesthesia is very short-lived.

In addition, today quite often for the treatment of hypersensitive teeth, remineralizing therapy is used. Dentists began to use this method after they discovered that demineralization occurs mainly in the upper layers of the teeth.

However, no matter what kind of toothpaste is used, the treatment method remains the same. First, the doctor isolates the teeth from saliva. After that, he wipes them with a cotton swab and removes plaque. After that, a special anesthetic solution is applied to the teeth. After some time, a medical paste is applied to each tooth. Thus, the patient must undergo an average of 5 to 15 applications.

If a relapse occurs, all therapeutic measures are repeated again.

Folk methods of treatment

To achieve the maximum effect, dentists recommend treating sensitive teeth with folk methods in between application procedures.

For this purpose it is recommended to use:

• tea tree oil (5-7 drops per 250 ml of warm water.) Use every time after meals;
• decoction of oak bark (1 tbsp. crushed raw materials per 1 glass of water.) Infuse for 30 minutes and use 3-4 times a day;
• a decoction of chamomile and burdock flowers (2 tablespoons of raw materials pour 0.5 liters of water). Leave this infusion for 30 minutes and rinse your mouth with it every time after brushing your teeth;
• to eliminate pain, it is recommended to hold warm goat's milk in your mouth.

Sensitive teeth should be cared for regularly and, if symptoms worsen, start using medicated pestles and diet. The task can be greatly complicated if the hypersensitivity was caused by medication. In this case, it is recommended to stop using drugs, cover the teeth with crowns, or completely remove the nerves.

Prevention

In order for a person to never encounter such a problem as hyperesthesia of the teeth, he must carefully select a diet. Ideally, it should be as balanced as possible and contain the maximum amount of vitamins and minerals.

Dentists recommend that patients consume seafood as often as possible, as well as dairy products. They contain the largest amount of calcium and phosphorus, and tooth enamel consists of them.

If the patient cannot consume these products in large quantities, then he is recommended to use multivitamin or mineral complexes in tablets.

In addition, it is important that patients consume a sufficient amount of vitamin A. It is he who is responsible for the absorption of many minerals in the gastrointestinal tract. This vitamin is found in large quantities in carrots, liver, eggs.

In addition, everyone who wants to keep tooth enamel as strong as possible should give up too acidic foods and carbonated drinks.

Proper oral hygiene is also important for maintaining dental health.

When brushing your teeth, it is not recommended to make horizontal movements. Most preferably, the toothbrush is moved vertically or in a circular motion.

Not many people know, but you need to start brushing your teeth from the outer teeth, and not from the incisors, as children often do. Toothbrushes should be chosen soft, and pastes containing trace elements useful for enamel.