How To Prevent Sensitive Teeth

Sensitive teeth are caused by a loss of enamel on your teeth, meaning that the nerves in your teeth are more susceptible to painful exposure to hot and cold temperatures. Because enamel does not grow back, there are a number of things that you should do to avoid increasing the sensitiveness of your teeth so that you can continue eating and drinking normally for as long as possible.

Proper Brushing

The most obvious way to maintain your mouth's enamel is to practice good oral hygiene through proper brushing of your teeth. This means using a soft brush and only using a small amount of pressure to cover as much surface area within your mouth as possible. Avoid using too much force, as this can actually cause the enamel to wear off and increase the sensitivity of your teeth. It's also a good idea to invest in an electric toothbrush, if you do not use one already, as they are much more effective at removing food and debris from your teeth than their manual counterparts.

Reduce Physical Wear

A good way to reduce the amount of enamel wear that you experience is to actively prevent as much physical degradation of your teeth as possible. This means being on the lookout for any sort of grinding or clenching, which can cause serious structural damage to your teeth, as well as cutting out gum or other activities and foods that require constant chewing. Reducing the amount of stress in your life is a good first step to reducing the overall amount of grinding and clenching that you do. If you wake up in the morning with a sore jaw, you may also want to consider talking to a dentist about a night mouth guard to prevent nighttime grinding.

Avoid Acidic Foods

Another good method to maintaining your teeth's enamel is to avoid acidic foods, like soda and citrus fruits, as much as possible. This is because acidic food will soften the enamel and make it easier for physical damage to break it down. Obviously, you won't be able to avoid acidic foods for the rest of your life, so ensure that you drink lots of water when eating or drinking anything acidic, and brush your teeth thoroughly at least an hour later. This is because brushing after eating something acidic can actually cause your toothbrush to rub the enamel itself off of your teeth.


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