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Why Are My Teeth Sensitive to Cold and Sweet Things?
By the Celestial Dental Centre clinical team · Published
A tooth is built in layers. The hard white enamel on the outside has no nerves, so it feels nothing. Underneath it is dentine, and dentine is not solid. It is threaded with thousands of microscopic tubes that lead straight to the nerve in the middle of the tooth. As long as the enamel and the gum cover the dentine, those tubes are sealed off and you feel nothing. When something exposes the dentine, cold, heat, sweet and sometimes just air can travel down the tubes and reach the nerve. That is the short, sharp, stops-quickly pain of sensitive teeth.
The useful thing to understand is the difference between two patterns. Sensitivity that is a quick jolt and fades within a few seconds is usually exposed dentine, and much of it can be managed. Sensitivity that lingers as a dull ache for minutes, throbs, or wakes you at night is a different problem and points to the nerve itself being inflamed, which needs a dentist.
What exposes the sensitive layer?
Anything that wears away enamel or pulls the gum back off the root can uncover dentine. The common causes are:
- Brushing too hard, or with a hard brush. This is one of the most frequent causes. A heavy scrubbing action wears a notch at the gum line and pushes the gum back, exposing the root, which has no enamel over it at all.
- Gum recession. Gums that shrink back, from age, gum disease or hard brushing, expose the root surface.
- Acid wear. Fizzy drinks, citrus, fruit juices and frequent snacking bathe the teeth in acid that dissolves enamel over time. Acid reflux and frequent vomiting do the same from the inside.
- A cracked or chipped tooth, or a lost filling, opening a direct route to the dentine.
- Tooth decay, which breaks through the enamel.
- Teeth grinding, which wears the biting surfaces flat and thin.
- After a dental treatment. Whitening, a new filling or a scale and polish can cause temporary sensitivity that settles within days to a couple of weeks.
What can I do about it at home?
For the common quick-jolt sensitivity, a lot is genuinely within your control:
- Switch to a soft brush and ease off the pressure. Hold the brush in your fingertips, not your fist, and use small gentle circles. Scrubbing harder does not clean better, it just wears the tooth.
- Use a sensitivity toothpaste, and use it properly. These work by blocking the tubes in the dentine, and they need time to build up. Brush with it twice a day, and once at night smear a little onto the sensitive spot with a fingertip and do not rinse it off. Give it two weeks before you judge it.
- Do not brush straight after anything acidic. After fizzy drinks, juice or fruit, the enamel is softened for a while and brushing then scrubs it away. Rinse with water and wait an hour.
- Cut down the acid. Fewer fizzy and citrus drinks, and when you do have them, through a straw and not sipped slowly over an hour.
- Spit, do not rinse. After brushing, spit out the excess toothpaste but do not rinse with water, so the fluoride stays working on the teeth.
If simple sensitivity does not improve after two to four weeks of this, it is worth having it looked at.
When is sensitivity a sign of something that needs a dentist?
Book an appointment rather than waiting if:
- The pain lingers or throbs after the cold or sweet is gone, rather than stopping quickly
- It keeps you awake or wakes you at night
- It is coming from one specific tooth that is getting worse
- The tooth is also sensitive to heat, or hurts when you bite down
- There is visible decay, a hole, a crack, or a lost filling
- The gum around the tooth is swollen, or there is a bad taste
Lingering pain, heat sensitivity and pain on biting are the signals that the nerve inside the tooth is inflamed or that decay has reached it. Caught early, that can often be treated with a filling. Left alone, it is the path to an abscess and a root canal. There is more on how dentists choose between a filling, a root canal and an extraction in our article at celestialdental.org/cavity-treatment-filling-root-canal-or-extraction.
What treatments can a dentist offer?
It depends on the cause, which is exactly why identifying the cause matters more than reaching for stronger toothpaste. A dentist might apply a fluoride varnish or a desensitising agent to seal the exposed dentine, place a filling or bonding over a worn notch at the gum line, treat decay or a cracked tooth directly, fit a night guard if grinding is wearing the teeth down, or treat gum disease if recession is the underlying problem. Where the nerve is already inflamed beyond recovery, a root canal removes the pain by removing the nerve. Most people never reach that stage if they act while the sensitivity is still the quick, fading kind.
Can sensitive teeth be prevented?
Largely, yes, because most sensitivity is wear that builds up over years. Brush gently twice a day with a soft brush and fluoride toothpaste, keep acidic drinks occasional rather than constant, do not brush straight after them, treat grinding early, and keep up regular check-ups so recession and early wear are spotted before the dentine is exposed. Sensitivity is easier to prevent than to reverse.
Book a check-up
If cold, sweet or hot sets off a tooth, a check-up can tell you whether it is simple exposed dentine or something that needs treating, and sort it before it grows. Celestial Dental Centre has clinics in Kasarani (Nairobi), Kamakis (Ruiru) and Eldoret, open every day from 07:00 to 20:00. Check-ups and fillings are commonly included in insurance dental benefits. Send us your insurer or SHA scheme name, member category and preferred branch and we will confirm eligibility before your visit.
Call or WhatsApp +254 707 535 000 or book online at celestialdental.org. If one particular tooth is the problem, point it out when you arrive, because sensitivity in a single tooth is worth examining rather than living with.