{"id":13297,"date":"2026-08-30T06:22:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T06:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/sensitive-teeth-what-to-do\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T06:22:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T06:22:05","slug":"sensitive-teeth-what-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/sensitive-teeth-what-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensitive teeth: why cold hurts and what to do about it"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Beneath the enamel is dentine \u2014 a tissue threaded with microscopic tubules that lead straight to the tooth&#8217;s nerve. If enamel or the cementum below the gum has worn away, those tubules are open and cold, heat or sweetness reaches the nerve directly. Hence the sharp pain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>An important distinction: brief or lasting pain<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Brief pain<\/strong> that fades within seconds of removing the trigger \u2014 ordinary sensitivity. Unpleasant, but not dangerous.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lasting pain<\/strong> that continues for minutes, starts on its own or wakes you at night \u2014 a sign of pulpitis, requiring root canal treatment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This distinction is the most useful thing you can assess yourself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why enamel or gum covering wears away<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Gum recession.<\/strong> The tooth neck becomes exposed. It is covered by cementum, which is far softer than enamel and wears quickly.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brushing too hard.<\/strong> A hard brush and horizontal sawing wear the tooth neck \u2014 creating wedge-shaped notches.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Acidic food and drink.<\/strong> Citrus, fizzy drinks, energy drinks, wine. Also frequent reflux.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bruxism.<\/strong> Grinding wears enamel and flexes the tooth neck.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Whitening.<\/strong> Temporary sensitivity that passes within days.<\/li>\n<li><strong>After a filling or cleaning.<\/strong> Also temporary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What genuinely helps<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Toothpaste for sensitive teeth.<\/strong> Contains potassium nitrate or stannous fluoride, which seal the dentine tubules. The effect builds over 2\u20134 weeks, so it has to be used consistently.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rub the paste directly onto the sensitive spot<\/strong> with a finger before bed and do not rinse.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Soft brush and correct technique.<\/strong> Small circular movements, not sawing. A pressure sensor on an electric brush helps.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Do not brush straight after something acidic.<\/strong> Wait 30 minutes \u2014 brushing softened enamel wears it away.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fluoride varnish in the chair.<\/strong> Preventive procedure up to 4 teeth \u2014 \u20ac15.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A night guard,<\/strong> if the cause is bruxism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>When you need a dentist<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pain lasts longer than a couple of seconds or arises on its own.<\/li>\n<li>One specific tooth is sensitive rather than several.<\/li>\n<li>Sensitivity appeared suddenly and is severe.<\/li>\n<li>The tooth is sensitive when biting \u2014 this can indicate a crack.<\/li>\n<li>Home measures do not help within 4 weeks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sudden sensitivity in a single tooth often means decay, a leaking filling or a crack \u2014 not general sensitivity.<\/p>\n<p>Book an examination at Unidenta in Tallinn if sensitivity persists or worsens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brief sharp pain from cold usually means exposed dentine. When it is harmless, when it points to a problem, and what genuinely helps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[291],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-useful"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unidenta.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}