How to Choose The Best Toothpaste
Sensitive teeth can make life less enjoyable. Sensitive teeth can make it challenging to enjoy small pleasures like a cup of coffee on a cold morning or ice cream at the beach with the family.
WHO IS CAPABLE OF SUCCEEDING WITH SENSITIVE TEETH?
Sensitive teeth don't necessarily indicate that you are suffering from severe, long-term pain. Sometimes it may just be a slight twinge. This is most common in people between 20-40, especially among women. However, anyone can feel it.
WHAT CAUSES THE TEETH TO BE SENSITIVE?
Although there are many reasons your teeth may feel sensitive, it is often due to enamel wear. It could be as simple as not brushing your teeth enough or drinking too much acidic food and drink, such as citrus-flavoured drinks and fizzy drinks.
Other causes of sensitive teeth are receding gums, gum disease, and grinding teeth. Some people may experience temporary sensitivity following teeth-bleaching treatments.
How do you decide which type of toothpaste will work best for you?
To get to the bottom of this, we posed this question to some highly regarded dental health professionals.
Who have a wealth of experience in the field of toothpaste and asked them to evaluate the ingredients that are typically present in toothpaste that target sensitivity, whitening, and enamel repair to determine whether or not they are worth the money.
They looked at the information supplied by the makers and research conducted on a larger scale in clinical settings to help you decide whether or not to pay a premium for certain types of toothpaste, such as those designed for sensitive teeth.
While it's true that specific assertions can be supported by evidence, others may be more open to personal interpretation. Also, remember that many of the claims may be predicated on the presence of a single essential component, fluoride, which is present in even the most affordable brands of toothpaste.
Brushing with fluoride toothpaste
Experts say that brushing with fluoride toothpaste is still the best thing you can do to keep your teeth healthy.
Fluoride penetrates the surface of the enamel and gets to places that brushing can't, as long as you brush for about two minutes. This makes the surface of the tooth harder (remineralizing) and more resistant to attack by bacteria that love sugar.
To get the most out of it, spit out the water but don't rinse your mouth with water. Cochrane, which is the gold standard for research reviews, found that using fluoride in toothpaste makes tooth decay less likely.
The more decay is stopped, the stronger the concentration needs to be.
Dentine sensitivity may be caused by fluid moving up the tiny tubules that connect the tooth's dentine to the nerve.
Changes in temperature, pressure, or food that is too sweet or too acidic can make the fluid move differently. You can try to stop it by making the nerves less sensitive or stopping the tubules.
Toothpaste that says it can treat sensitive teeth is considered medicine and must follow the rules set by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) about selling them.
Our experts looked at some of the essential ingredients in popular toothpaste and found that they all have good evidence to back them up. However, you may find that one type works better for you than another.
All toothpaste that makes teeth less sensitive will work better if you cut back on acidic foods and drinks between meals. You might find that your hypersensitivity goes away over time, or it might only happen sometimes.
