Tooth Sensitivity
Why teeth become sensitive and how to treat it.
Sensitivity to hot, cold or sweet foods often signals worn enamel, receding gums or decay.
Causes & Treatment
Causes include gum recession, decay and grinding. Treatments range from desensitising care to fillings or crowns.
When to See a Dentist
Persistent sensitivity should be assessed to rule out decay or cracks.
What Sensitivity Actually Is
Beneath the enamel lies dentine, threaded with microscopic tubules that run to the nerve. Expose those tubules — by recession, wear, erosion or a crack — and cold, sweet or touch stimuli move fluid inside them. The nerve reads that movement as a sharp, brief pain.
Brief is the key word. A jolt that vanishes in seconds is dentine hypersensitivity. Pain that lingers is something else.
The Red Flag: Lingering Pain
If cold or heat provokes pain that continues for more than about thirty seconds, or wakes you at night, or is throbbing rather than sharp, this is not sensitivity. It suggests irreversible pulpitis — the nerve is dying — and it usually requires root canal treatment.
Desensitising toothpaste will not help, and delaying invites an abscess. Pain to biting instead suggests a cracked tooth.
Why the Tubules Became Exposed
Recession uncovers root surface, which has no enamel at all — see receding gums.
Erosion dissolves enamel: citrus, fizzy drinks (including sugar-free), wine, reflux, vomiting.
Abrasion from hard brushing and abrasive whitening pastes.
Bruxism flexes the tooth at the neck.
Whitening causes temporary sensitivity that settles within 1–3 days.
Recent fillings or crowns may be sensitive for a few weeks.
What Works, and In What Order
Use a toothpaste with potassium nitrate (calms the nerve) or stannous fluoride (plugs the tubules) — and use it as a paste smeared on the sensitive area at night, not merely brushed and rinsed away.
Change what caused it: soft brush, light pressure, stop scrubbing. Do not brush for an hour after anything acidic — the enamel is temporarily softened and you will brush it away. Rinse with water instead. A night guard if you grind.
If home measures fail after two to four weeks, in-surgery fluoride varnish, bonding of exposed root surfaces, or a gum graft are the next steps.
When to Stop Self-Treating
See a dentist if sensitivity is confined to one tooth, if pain lingers, if it wakes you, if there is swelling, or if it has worsened despite four weeks of desensitising paste.
Generalised, mild, brief sensitivity is usually manageable at home. A single angry tooth is a diagnosis waiting to be made.
This page provides general information and does not replace professional dental advice. Always consult a qualified dentist about your individual case.
Frequently Asked Questions
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