Tooth sensitivity can be a little bit of a broad category in dentistry. It refers broadly to that stinging pain you may feel when eating something hot, cold, or excessively sweet. While tooth sensitivity is easily recognizable, it’s much harder to know why someone is dealing with it.
If you have a tooth that is bothering you, you may wonder whether that constitutes a dental emergency. The answer is complicated: here’s what you should know.
Is Tooth Sensitivity a Dental Emergency?
Whether or not your tooth pain constitutes an emergency comes down to quite a few factors, but the most important thing for you to consider is the severity of the pain that you’re dealing with.
Dental emergencies consist of those issues that are so painful that they have to be addressed as soon as possible. If you find that your tooth sensitivity is mild, you may just want to ask your dentist about a regular visit. If it isn’t, that may be a reason to push for an emergency appointment.
Why Does Tooth Sensitivity Happen?
It can be easy to think of the tooth as being all one thing, but the fact is that it’s actually composed of several layers. The top layer is enamel, which is hard and insensitive, and below it is a layer of soft nerve tissue called dentin.
Tooth sensitivity happens when the enamel can no longer properly protect the dentin inside the tooth. There is a myriad of reasons this can occur, and not all of them involve radical breaks in the tooth—sometimes, natural erosion may have just made the enamel excessively thin. This is part of what makes determining the importance of sensitive teeth difficult, and why it’s so important to consult an experienced dentist.
What Serious Problems Can Cause Tooth Sensitivity?
While it’s certainly the case that tooth sensitivity isn’t always a problem, here are a few more severe oral health issues that may feature it as a symptom:
- Cavities & Tooth Decay
- Gum Disease
- Broken or Cracked Tooth
- Pulpitis, i.e. a Severe Infection Within the Tooth
Even if you don’t know for sure that your sensitivity is emblematic of a larger issue, there’s no harm in talking to a dentist about it. That way, you can both ease the discomfort and ensure that nothing more serious is going on.
About Our Practice
Whether you want a dentist who’s knowledgeable, ethical, capable, or just someone you know will treat you like a person, Miller & Wolf Family Dentistry will be able to exceed your every expectation. We consider ourselves not only experts in incredible dental care but in helping anxious patients feel completely at home for the duration of their stay with us.
If you have any questions about tooth sensitivity, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (434) 324-8241.