Sweet food items and drinks aren’t a good fit for your teeth. Substances that contain sugar can harm the teeth and elevate the risk of sensitivity. Moreover, eating sweets can result in toothache and discomfort to the teeth that have become sensitive. People often wonder why do their teeth hurt when they eat sweets. This article will explain in detail why you may have teeth sensitivity to sugar.
Teeth hurting when eating sweets
If you regularly eat candies, drinks, or other food items full of sugar and don’t clean your teeth afterward, expect excessive damage to your oral health. The result can be teeth that are sensitive to sugar and hot or cold temperatures.
What sugars can hurt your teeth?
Eating and drinking sweets can result in tooth pain. The primary victims of this discomfort and ache are damaged or highly sensitized teeth.
Your teeth can hurt when you eat sweets such as:
- Hard candies. Candies that you suck can prove to be damaging for your teeth. They swim around your teeth and create plentiful acid that is bad for tooth enamel.
- Gummy or sticky sweets. Dried fruit, gummy bears, and honey glue to your teeth, which gives plenty of time for bacteria to grow.
- Carbonated beverages. These drinks have a high amount of sugar and are acidic in nature.
- Orange juice. This may not be too bad, but orange juice contains citric acid and is full of sugar that can lead to tooth erosion.
What causes toothache after eating sweets?
Tooth damage can cause them to become highly sensitive to sugar, and this can happen due to several reasons such as:
Enamel Erosion
Sugary food items and beverages have fermentable carbohydrates that produce a certain type of acid when combined with harmful mouth bacteria. If you don’t rinse or clean away this acid, it can eradicate essential minerals from the tooth and erode the enamel.
To learn how to strengthen and rebuild enamel, go through this article.
The destruction of tooth enamel makes them more sensitive to sugar, and your teeth can hurt even if you eat a small amount of sweets.
Minerals occur naturally in your saliva that help remineralize the enamel of your teeth. However, if you eat too many candies and lollipops, it becomes difficult for your saliva to give necessary nutrients to your tooth enamel.
A Cracked Tooth
Cavities can generate a pulse of pain into your tooth, which reaches through the enamel. And if you have a cracked tooth, you may experience a similar type of painful sensation. A crack or opening in the enamel allows acids to seep into the tooth, resulting in irritated nerves and soft tissues.
Here, sugar isn’t responsible for creating a crack in your tooth, but when you eat sugary items or sweets, the acid can hurt your teeth when it gets inside the crack.
A common cause of tooth enamel cracks is tooth clenching or grinding. Moreover, dental trauma can also result in a cracked tooth.
Gum Disease – can make your teeth hurt when you eat sweets
One of the results of plaque buildup is gum disease. When plaque accumulates on your teeth and isn’t cleaned for long, it hardens on the surface and becomes tartar. Plaque and tartar can hurt the gums and cause:
- swelling
- infection
- bleeding
Swollen gum tissue can lead to greater tooth sensitivity due to exposed tooth roots that contain the nerves.
Sensitivity From Receding Gums
The function of your gums is to provide layering to your bone and to keep the tooth’s roots safe. Gum recession can lead to sensitivity, due to which your teeth can hurt when you eat sweets. Here are some common causes of receding gums:
- Aging is one of the reasons behind gum receding, and it exposes the roots of the teeth.
- Rigorously brushing the teeth and smoking can worsen the gum recession.
- Not practicing good oral hygiene, including brushing, flossing, and washing your mouth with an antiseptic mouthwash, can also be a cause of receding gums.
- If your gum disease is in its initial stage, the gums may recede. This minor recession can expose the lower surfaces of the tooth that are very sensitive to the acids found in sugary foods and drinks.
- For some patients, orthodontic treatment often proves to be detrimental and side effects may include gum recession.
- The hormone levels of a female can fluctuate greatly during puberty, pregnancy, and menopause, making the gums more prone to sensitivity and increasing the risk of gum recession.
- Misaligned bite or crooked teeth prevent the teeth from closing evenly, which exerts added pressure on the bone and gums, leading to gum recession.
- Body piercing of the lip or tongue can irritate the gums and cause wear and tear.
It doesn’t matter what the cause of receding gums is; you’ll experience the same amount of pain and discomfort when you eat sugary food items.
Tooth-whitening treatments
Almost all of the tooth whiteners contain hydrogen peroxide to get rid of the tooth stains. To do its job, the peroxide penetrates the teeth’ top layer, elevating tooth sensitivity.
If a person is undergoing whitening treatment, their teeth can hurt when they eat sweets or beverages that contain sugar.
How does it feel when your teeth are hurting due to sugar sensitivity?
Damaged teeth or sensitivity can give your mouth different unpleasant sensations when eating sweets such as candy, chocolates, or gummy bears. You may experience:
- itching
- aching
- excruciating pain that is hard to bear
- pain that reaches your eyes, sinuses
Treatments for toothache after eating sugar
Sensitivity Toothpaste
If you have tooth sensitivity or the tooth enamel is eroded a little bit, using a special type of toothpaste formulated to treat these issues can be helpful.
Toothpaste for sensitive teeth help form a protective layer on the dentin tubules in the teeth. This, in return, minimizes the pain and discomfort that a person feels after consuming sugar.
Dental Bonding
If the enamel on your teeth is severely damaged, dental bonding may be the best solution for you. If you already have a bonding, your dentist will place a tooth-colored resin on your teeth.
Pain Relievers
OTC pain relievers can help reduce the sudden pain when you feel sugar sensitivity. If your teeth hurt when you eat sweets, pain medication can help mitigate the ache and discomfort.
Mouthguard
Teeth grinding can erode the enamel. Wearing a custom or over-the-counter mouthguard at night can save your enamel and teeth from damage.
Sealants
Dental sealants can help avoid damage to teeth from decay. Sealants fill the vulnerable points of teeth and prevent the buildup of food debris and plaque.
Fluoride
Fluoride remineralizes your teeth and makes them more resistant to acids and sugars found in food and drinks. Remineralization drastically improves the health and toughness of tooth enamel. You can find fluoride in many forms, from toothpaste to mouthwash.
Restorations
If you have a cracked or chipped tooth, you need a detailed examination by a dentist near you. In case you have a severe crack, you may have to wear a dental crown or other restorations to avoid further damage to the tooth.
Dental Fillings
If your teeth hurt when you eat sweets and sugary drinks due to cavities, dental fillings can help minimize tooth sensitivity. Now, it wouldn’t be possible for the sugar to stick to the decayed areas. It’s best to get your tooth filled instantly by the dentists at Pearl Shine Dental.
Prevention
Here are some tips that you can follow to improve the health of your teeth and eliminate the pain when eating sweets.
- Minimize your intake of sugar to avoid tooth decay
- If you’re a smoker, try quitting for better oral and overall health
- Brush your teeth twice a day with a soft-bristled toothbrush and use a fluoride toothpaste
- Floss as much as you can, but don’t do it vigorously
- Rinse with an alcohol-free mouthwash.
- Brush your teeth after eating foods high in sugar or carbohydrates
- If it’s not feasible to brush your teeth after meals, chew sugar-free gum to get rid of the food debris.
- Schedule an appointment with your dentist twice a year for professional teeth cleaning. During the examination, your dentist can diagnose any small cavities that may be lingering in your teeth.
Visit your dentist if your teeth hurt when you eat sweets
Schedule an appointment with your dentist at Pearl Shine Dental if:
- You’ve persistent toothache that doesn’t reside after 7-10 days of using sensitivity toothpaste. It’s possible you may have decay or infection that needs treatment.
You have inflamed, white or puffy gums, and they bleed sometimes. - You have damaged filling.
- The pain or any abnormal sensation you’ve disturbs your daily life.
Summing up
Teeth that are sensitive may hurt when you eat sweets or drink sodas or other beverages that contain high sugar content.
Taking good care of your mouth is the key to making your teeth less sensitive to sugary food and a promise to improved oral health.