I'm afraid...Tooth sensitivity question

[richelle]

I was hoping somebody could put my mind at ease. I know I should just go see a dentist but I'm quite scared about it.
I have tooth sensitivity in my molars, specifically the back right side but often extends to the rest of my molars as well. It happens when I bite into certain foods, but it has nothing to do with hot/cold temperatures.
Everything I've searched for turns up "sensitivity to hot/cold foods" but that's not my problem. The temperature of the foods don't seem to matter.
Some days it is fine, some days it feels like sharp, short stabbing pains when I bite into food. Anything greasy (the hashbrowns I tried to eat the other day, for example) seems to be when it hurts the most. Does that even make any sense?
My teeth don't hurt any other time. I can bite down and clench my teeth without pain. It just doesn't seem to make any sense to me at all.
FYI: I sometimes brush with whitening toothpaste - would that make my teeth sensetive?
Has anyone else heard of tooth sensitivity to food but not hot/cold?
It comes and goes, and I just don't know what to make of it.

 

[Lesley]

Hi there

I had pain in one molar for about a year when I ate certain foods, meat was one, 'oily' food another. Sweet stuff didn't bother me. Felt like my gums were sore, rather than the teeth, almost like the tooth was being 'pushed down' into the gum as I ate, and it ached for a while after, as opposed to stabbing pains during chewing.

Turns out I have an abcess and decay in one lower molar.

Have just gone to the dentist for the first time in years....so I know where you are coming from....be brave! If you get it looked at now it may just be a filling and nothing worse. I wish I hadn't left it so late.

Hope you get it sorted.

Gordon or Pars will be along to give you better advice.

 

[Parsnip]

Hi. Have you noticed any coincidence regarding sensitivity with the times that you brush with whitening toothpaste? These whitening toothpastes can be quite abrasive - leading to sensitivity - commonly with hot and cold, but often to all manner of things. Most sensitive to dentists seems to be a regular complaint!

Best have it x-ray'd perhaps? checked thoroughly, then at least you'll know for sure.

Hope that helps.

Pars

 

[richelle]

Thank you for your responses! I really do need to just suck it up and go see a dentist about it. It's not the proceedures or anything that I'm afraid of - it's simply "finding out something is wrong" that scares me. It's like, I would rather just NOT know. I know that's silly, but I can't help feeling that way. I don't know why.
Anyway,
Thanks!