Escaping the pain

(This is not an advertisement but only a testimonial on the effectiveness of a sensitive tooth toothpaste. Heck, I'm not even mentioning the name of the product....)

Oof! I tell you, having a sensitive tooth is no laughing matter. It can strike at any time. One minute you are fine but the next second, the most horrendous twinges of sudden pain sweeps through your mouth. A visit to the dentist may turn out nothing but if the dentist is experienced enough, he would recognise the symptom as that of a sensitive tooth.

Since a few months ago, I have had these sudden twinges of pain. Sometimes it was just a short dull ache among the teeth but other times too, there'd be a short, sharp pain akin to a toothache. At first, gargling with salt water and even brushing my teeth with a mixture of toothpaste and salt seemed to resolve the problem. For quite a while, the problem subsided.

Then it came back with a vengeance. No amount of salt could save me. Every sip I took of my favourite kopi-o caused me a searing pain in the tooth. No more choice but to visit my favourite dentist.

After I opened up wide enough for him to pry around my teeth and gums, he told me that I had a sensitive tooth. The gum had receded somewhat and had exposed the dentine. So every time I ate something that was not quite agreeable, the pain would remind me that the exposed dentine was reacting to the food.

So what can I do, I asked the dentist. Nothing much, he replied casually. Hey, I'm the one experiencing the pain, not you, I protested. Yah, lah, he shot back, nothing much for him to do.

Then he tossed me two sample tubes of a toothpaste for sensitive teeth. Just rub your teeth with this toothpaste every night and rinse away after five minutes. That's all? I asked him, feeling rather skeptical. That's all, he assured me.

For the past two weeks, I have been rubbing this paste over my teeth diligently every night. For good measure, I even resorted to doing the same in the morning too. And I'm happy to inform the world that yes, this toothpaste really works! It took about four days for the formula to start working but once it did, I haven't been feeling the twinges of pain again.

The problem is, I'm sure that this solution cannot last forever. There'll come a time when the pain will come back. So the only painless way to prevent the pain from returning looks like for me to continually use this toothpaste. If there's no more free sample, then I've got to buy it from the pharmacy...