Top 5 Proven Home Remedies To Treat Sensitive Teeth

Tooth sensitivity can be a real pain (pun intended). From stopping you from having ice-cream when its hot, to the cold wind stirring up the pain when you walk outside in winter.

Tooth sensitivity can happen to you due to a variety of reasons such as cavities, gum disease, weak enamel, improper brushing action and grinding your teeth. If you are suffering from sensitivity it is best to see your dentist to rule out any cavities or disease.

Call us on (03) 9459 6300 or make an appointment online to get a proven treatment for sensitive teeth from one of our gentle dentists.

However, if you want to try some home-based treatments for sensitive teeth, our list of the top 5 home remedies includes:

Sensitive Teeth Remedy 1. Listen to your body

Awareness of grinding or clenching your teeth. Whether it’s while you are playing sport or at the gym, driving, working or just thinking, lots of people tend to take out their stress on their teeth which in turn puts too much force on them and can cause sensitivity.

Check out our guide to easy exercises to help relieve muscle pain from teeth grinding.

Alternatively, you may need to consider a night-guard for grinding or clenching at night. Night guards are essentially a mouthguard that you can wear at night to protect your teeth from the stresses that your jaw and TMJ dysfunctions can put them under.

Call us on (03) 9459 6300 or make an appointment online to see if a night-guard will help you protect your teeth and relieve the sensitivity in your teeth.

Sensitive Teeth Remedy 2. Look at your toothbrush

Swap your toothbrush for one that is rated "soft" or even "extra soft".

Over brushing or an improper action can lead to scrubbing your teeth too hard and therefore sensitivity. Be gentle to your teeth and use a soft bristle toothbrush, a circular motion instead of a scrubbing action

Sensitive Teeth Remedy 3. Watch what you eat and drink

In short: avoid acidic foods.

Soft drinks, acidic foods can wear away the enamel and therefore expose the inner dentine or the root surface which can cause a lot of sensitivity. Avoiding acidic foods, or drinking through a straw can help against tooth erosion and keep the teeth strong.

Sensitive Teeth Remedy 4. Take care of the gaps between your teeth...

...by flossing. Flossing helps clean in-between the teeth and keep plaque away from the gums, this helps reduce gum disease. With long term gum disease, the gum recedes and the root surface of the tooth is exposed which is not covered by enamel and can cause sensitivity.

Be careful of bush lawyers telling you that you may have cavities in your teeth that are causing your teeth sensitivity. While cavities can cause many problems, your tooth sensitivity is likely the result of a different dental issue.

Sensitive Teeth Remedy 5. Try using a sensitive toothpaste

Don't worry, your toothpaste wont mind.

If all the other causes of sensitivity have been ruled out by your dentist, the use of a sensitive toothpaste as well as a soft toothbrush can help against sensitivity.

Sensodyne and Colgate Pro-Relief toothpaste are the most obvious and commonly used sensitive toothpastes that you can look for on your supermarket shelves. There are other options and you should try the various options from the different brands to see if any of them work for you.

Sensitive Teeth Remedy 6. Visit a gentle dentist

If you have tried all of these remedies and more, but your sensitive teeth are still bothering you our gentle dentists can help. There are a few proven treatment options to relieve you of your sensitive teeth.

Your treatment options range from tooth mousses to fillings or even a root canal in some progressed situations.

The other advantage of visiting a dentist to treat your sensitive teeth over any home remedy, is that a dentist can actually treat the underlying problem.

You see, if your roof is leaking and you paint over the water stains in your ceiling, you might hide the problem - but it will come back over and over. Home remedies might just have the same effect, whereas seeing a dentist will help you understand where the leak is and how to fix it with a more permanent solution.

Call us on (03) 9459 6300 or book an appointment online to get proven treatments for your sensitive teeth from our caring and gentle dentists.

Publisher: Heidelberg Dentist

3 Handy Exercises & Stretches To Get You Fit While Brushing

We all make plenty of excuses about why we can never quite do justice to our gym memberships. If you prefer to keep making such excuses then stop reading now.
...
...
...
Congratulations for choosing to keep reading! Check out these 3 handy exercise and stretching tips that you can do while brushing your teeth. That's right, not only do we have a team of great dentists, we're also pretty adept at helping you get fit and save time!

Calf Raises

Standing flat footed, start by lifting your heels until you are on your tip-toes. 

Slowly return your heels to the floor and repeat. You should feel the stretch in your calves. 

Oblique Stretches

Slowly lean as far to one side as possible while keeping your back straight. It helps to "reach" for your ankle with your free hand.

Hold the stretched position for 3-5 seconds, then return to your upright starting position. Repeat even on both sides.

Lunges

While alternating legs, put one foot forward until your foot is under your knee at a 90 degree angle.

Hold this for a few seconds, then return to your upright starting position. Swap legs & repeat.


As you get good at these stretches and your body gets used to the new routine, you can increase the complexity and resistance by adding a light weight to your free hand.

If you realise you need to see a dentist while you brushing & stretching, call us on (03) 9459 6300 or book an appointment online for the best dental treatment experience:

Publisher: Heidelberg Dentist

Which toothbrush & toothpaste should I use?

Despite all the attempts by toothbrush manufacturers to tell us otherwise, this issue really comes down to personal preference. As long as the bristles are soft, a battery operated, manual or electric toothbrush is fine

What is important, however, is the technique used to clean your pearly whites. Ensure that a circular motion is used to brush teeth, instead of a scrubbing action, gums, tongue and cheeks are important to clean as well. Using the back of the toothbrush to scrub your tongue can make a real difference to your dental health, because human tongues are rich in bad bacteria.

Certain dental conditions can necessitate the use of a toothbrush with a specific size, shape or hardness. These individual nuances are best determined in consultation with your dentist.

What about toothpaste?

Most toothpastes are quite similar. For children under 6 a kids' toothpaste is fine to use, and after this age a normal adult toothpaste will be just fine. However, you should be careful in believing the claims of many well-known toothpaste brand. Do you research, check the ingredients listed on the pack and make an informed decision about the toothpaste you want your family to use.

One thing is for certain: contrary to the opinions of a vocal minority, it is important to ensure that every toothpaste tube used by you and your family contains fluoride. Fluoride is very helpful in building strong and durable teeth, when used every day from a young age.

Next time you come in to see our caring and friendly dentists, ask us for samples of a brand that is different to what you use and something that may be more suited to your needs. You can book an appointment by calling us on (03) 9459 6300 or by booking an appointment online now:

Publisher: Heidelberg Dentist