What your patients need to know about tooth sensitivity

With the summer here, your dental patients may find themselves enjoying eating cold foods and drinks. To their surprise, their favorite ice cream or cold drink might be causing tooth pain. 

Tooth sensitivity is a common problem that adults face. A survey reports that one out of every eight adults in the U.S. suffers from sensitive teeth. Regular visits to the dental office and proper dental hygiene can help reverse this tooth problem. 

Here are some common causes of tooth sensitivity and how taking an oral conscious sedation course can help you better assist anxious patients with tooth sensitivity. 

What is tooth sensitivity?

Tooth sensitivity, also referred to as dentin hypersensitivity, is when a person feels pain or discomfort in their teeth due to cold or hot temperatures. A person with tooth sensitivity may experience it in individual teeth or several teeth. The pain may be temporary or chronic.

The causes of tooth sensitivity 

Finding the cause of a patient’s tooth sensitivity will help in creating a tooth sensitivity treatment plan. Here are some common reasons for tooth sensitivity. 

Enamel erosion

The tooth’s enamel is the outer layer of the tooth. It protects the teeth from tooth decay. However, it can get damaged by acidic and sugary foods causing the enamel to erode. Once the enamel starts to wear down, it causes tooth sensitivity, transparency, cracks and discolorations.

Tooth decay

Tooth decay is damage on the surface of the tooth or enamel. Bacteria, sugar and poor dental hygiene cause tooth decay. If left untreated, it can cause a cavity to form, infections, stains, toothaches and tooth sensitivity. If your patient is feeling pain when eating cold or hot foods that may be a sign of tooth decay. 

Gum disease

Gum disease is also called periodontal disease. It is gum inflammation and teeth sensitivity due to bacterial growth alongside the gum line and teeth. If this dental problem is left untreated, it may result in tooth and tissue loss. There are four stages of this disease. 

Worn or cracked fillings

Cavity fillings are designed to help fix the damage on a tooth caused by tooth decay. However, due to time or damage to the tooth, that cavity filling may become worn down or cracked. A common sign that your patient needs that filling replaced is tooth sensitivity. Not replacing the filling causes bacteria and food to make their way into the tooth. 

Tooth sensitivity treatment for anxious dental patients

Tooth sensitivity can be reversed or managed with the correct dental treatment - like cavity fillings, root canals or fluoride treatments. Not everyone is willing to see a dentist when they have tooth sensitivity. 

People can skip out on their regular or emergency dental visits due to dental anxiety. If your dental patients are ignoring or too nervous to tell you about tooth sensitivity, they could run the risk of developing cavities, infections or gum disease. 

As a dentist, you can ease your patients’ dental anxiety and help them get treatment for tooth sensitivity through oral conscious sedation. This kind of sedation is a prescribed medication that helps reduce anxiety levels in patients. 

In order to administer this kind of sedation, dentists must have completed an oral conscious sedation course and received certification.

Join our oral conscious sedation course!

At Midwest Sedation Consultants, we offer oral conscious sedation recertification courses. Our classes are offered online and available in eight states. Visit our website to find a class!