How to remove a sore throat: the most effective methods

Set on edge, set on edge: understanding the concepts

The word set on edge has deep roots; it comes from the old Russian verb “skomite”, which means “whining”, “to hurt”. In its modern meaning, soreness is the name given to painful sensations and a feeling of discomfort in the teeth or tongue. A sore throat appears from exposure of the teeth or oral mucosa to any irritant. Most often, spicy and sour foods. As a rule, an unpleasant symptom goes away quickly after eliminating the irritant (within 30 seconds), but sometimes it persists for quite a long time.

Important! Professional doctors believe that regardless of the frequency and duration of the discomfort, the symptom almost always indicates the presence of some kind of dental problem.

The main reasons for the development of dental pathology

When asked why the sore throat appears, doctors, as a rule, answer unanimously - increased sensitivity or, scientifically, dental hyperesthesia is to blame1. Hard tissues respond to various stimuli because they are weakened, demineralized, thinned, or destroyed.

A sore throat appears in your mouth for a reason. Here are the main reasons why enamel and dentin can weaken and begin to react negatively to food acids:

How to get rid of sore throat (sensitivity of teeth)?

This is tooth sensitivity or scientifically called hyperesthesia! There can be many reasons for sensitivity:

Carious process
Wear due to clenching or bruxism
Increased stone formation
Eating acidic vegetables and fruits (citrus fruits, cherries, tomatoes) or drinks containing acid (CocaCola, Fanta, Pepsi)
Inflammation of the periodontium (gum) and, as a result, exposure of the necks of the teeth
Chips and cracks in the enamel, sometimes increased sensitivity may occur after consuming cold or hot

Depending on the intensity of the sore throat, doctors distinguish several stages of this pathological condition:

Early stage. Increased sensitivity manifests itself to hot or cold. The reaction can also manifest itself to changes in air temperature when it is drawn in.
Middle stage. In addition to temperature factors, irritants of a chemical nature are added, such as citrus fruits, apples, chocolate, sweet carbonated drinks, juices and others;
Advanced stage. During this stage, a person may experience severe pain as a result of exposure to all of the above factors. Painful reactions may also occur during mechanical stress, for example, when brushing teeth or eating hard food.

There are general rules and tips that you can follow to prevent the development of sore throat:

Knowing that you have a reaction to certain drinks, you can stop drinking them or drink them through a straw. In this case, the irritant will not reach the enamel.
It is important to take good care of your teeth. Avoid mechanical injury, do not open bottles with their help, and do not crack nuts. It is even recommended to clean the seeds not with your teeth, but with your hands to avoid the appearance of microcracks.
You should choose the right toothbrush for daily hygiene procedures. Hard bristles often damage the enamel surface. But a soft toothbrush with a lot of bristles is quite capable of coping with the task and not injuring the tooth tissue!
Try not to alternate hot and cold foods in one meal, so as not to provoke the enamel to cause unpleasant reactions.
By visiting the dentist in a timely manner and eliminating the first symptoms of sore throat, you can quickly get rid of the problem and not let your teeth get into a state of disrepair.

At your appointment, the Happy Smile dentists will help you alleviate your condition and get rid of tooth sensitivity using various medications and a diode laser, and will also select the necessary home care (the right toothpaste, brush, mouthwash, etc.)

Why does the tongue set on edge?

Some patients complain not only of teeth set on edge, but also of increased sensitivity of the tongue when eating sour foods. In this case, the pathology may be caused by a disease such as glossitis. In this case, the tongue may have cracks, ulcers or open wounds that bleed or are covered with plaque.

The problem may arise due to injury to a muscle organ as a result of biting, malocclusion, wearing a piercing, or a burn. Due to the presence of damaged and chipped teeth in the mouth, poorly installed dentures, crowns and worn fillings.

Why does a sore throat arise?

The mechanism of the appearance of sore throat is easy to explain. When the mucous membrane and surface of the teeth interact with the irritant, sensitivity increases sharply and quickly disappears. Hot, sour, tart foods, metal objects, and temperature changes act as irritating factors.

A feeling of soreness can occur when consuming sour berries and drinks, even in a person with a healthy oral mucosa. In some cases, this is explained by the increased susceptibility of the enamel and mucous membrane to external influences and indicates the presence of dental problems.

The reaction occurs to acidic foods. The reason lies in the structure of enamel, the main component of which is susceptible to acids. When the surface layer of enamel is destroyed, a person begins to feel irritants more acutely.

How pathology manifests itself at different stages

Doctors say that the appearance of a sore throat, namely pain and discomfort while eating sour food, is not even the first stage of the disease, but the second.

The first or early stage of enamel hyperesthesia (hypersensitivity) is characterized by the following symptoms: hard tissues react to thermal stimuli, namely cold and hot temperatures of food (drinks).
If you have the second, or moderate stage, then the tissues react not only to sour foods, but also to sweet, salty, and spicy foods.
At the third, or advanced stage, pain and discomfort can be caused by any mechanical impact, for example, brushing and eating solid food.

Methods to help relieve the condition at home

If you periodically have a sore throat, then you will find useful tips that will help you quickly get rid of it at home.

Alkaline mouth rinses

Alkaline agents help quickly neutralize the effect of acid. To get rid of sore throat after eating acidic food, simply rinse your mouth with a solution of soda, milk or mineral water without carbonate, but with bicarbonate in the composition.

Eliminating irritating foods from your diet

If you don’t know how to remove the soreness on your teeth, then simply stop eating too sour and spicy foods, or reduce their consumption to a minimum. Remember that acidic foods and drinks are an additional factor contributing to the destruction and erosion of enamel, irritation and damage to the oral mucosa.

On a note! Try replacing acidic foods with ones that have a more neutral acid level. For example, if you like apples, you can choose less sour or not sour varieties.

Drinking sour drinks through a straw

Start drinking freshly squeezed juices and fruit drinks through a straw. This will help reduce the area exposed to the irritating factor.

Strengthening enamel

At home, you can use pastes for sensitive enamel and remineralizing compounds (Sensodyne, ROCS Sensitive Instant Relief or Medical Minerals, Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief, PresiDENT Sensitive Plus). Today, such pastes are in the line of every budget and premium manufacturer.

It is necessary to strengthen the enamel not only from the outside, but also from the inside. Vitamin and mineral complexes will help with this, as well as foods rich in calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium.

Ways to solve problems in dentistry

Experts believe that it is still better to treat sore throat not at home, but in dentistry. Because only a doctor can conduct a detailed diagnosis and establish the true cause of the problem.

How to remove the soreness on your teeth with the help of a dentist and make sure that the problem does not appear? Depending on the examination results and the clinical situation, the specialist may prescribe the following procedures:

professional oral hygiene: carried out if there is soft and hard bacterial plaque on the teeth, which is the cause of many dental diseases that provoke increased sensitivity of the enamel,
fluoridation and remotherapy: after these manipulations, the protective properties of hard tissues increase, their strength and resistance to irritating factors increases. During the procedure, the doctor seals the smallest cracks in the enamel, making its surface smooth and shiny,
treatment of caries, pulpitis, periodontitis, gingivitis and periodontitis,
installation of veneers and lumineers: microprosthetics with thin overlays is justified in cases of enamel hypersensitivity and the presence of other minor defects (chips, cracks, stains, gaps between teeth, unsightly shade, slight curvature and irregular shape of some teeth),
prosthetics with crowns: this radical method is suitable only for those patients whose teeth are severely damaged,
making and wearing night guards for bruxism,
correction of bite pathologies with braces, trainers, aligners.

How Covid-19 manifests itself in the mouth

COVID-19 leaves the body of an infected person in several ways: breathing, sneezing, talking, coughing, singing. All pathways involve the oral cavity. Therefore, when taking a coronavirus test, a swab is taken from the mouth and respiratory tract. Saliva is one of the main sources of transmission of the new coronavirus infection.

Remember, to protect yourself and your loved ones from coronavirus infection, you must wear medical masks and maintain social distance.

Coronavirus with complications in the oral cavity occurs in 45% of patients, complaints: dry mouth, rash on the mucous membrane, loss of taste, ulcers. However, complications of the virus may appear 12 days after the onset of the main symptoms and during the rehabilitation period. An oral infection from COVID-19 can also be asymptomatic, which complicates the treatment of the patient and the identification of the cause of complications in the oral cavity. Complications are associated with the poor state of the oral microflora, periodontal disease and other dental diseases, the treatment of which the patient postponed until later. From all this it follows that the connection between lack of oral care and the disease of the new coronavirus infection is close and it is always necessary to monitor your health.

Treatment of a sore tongue

If your teeth are set on edge, then you now know what to do. But if you are bothered by such unpleasant sensations on the tongue, then, as mentioned above, in most cases this indicates glossitis. There are many types of glossitis (allergic, herpetic, ulcerative, viral, hypertrophic, and so on). Each type of pathology is treated differently. To accurately determine the type and cause of this disease, you need to consult a doctor.

Read the article on the topic: “Symptoms, treatment, dental care for glossitis.”

Depending on the cause of the pathology, the doctor will prescribe a list of medications: antiseptics, antibiotics, ointments and antifungals.

Prevention is easier than cure - measures to prevent the problem

Professional doctors believe that sore throat can be easily avoided if you follow a number of preventive (prophylactic) measures.

Diet restrictions

You should not alternate cold and hot foods or get too carried away with sweet, spicy, salty, and sour foods. It is better to first separate solid foods into several small pieces. It is necessary to exclude from the diet carbonated drinks with phosphoric acid (Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta), which destroy and thin the enamel. You should also avoid eating sticky foods, crackers, chips and popcorn.

It must be remembered that teeth set on edge often appears due to careless treatment of enamel, so forget about cracking nuts and husking seeds with your teeth.

Using the right products to clean your teeth and gums

It will be better if you purchase personal hygiene products (paste, type of brush, type of floss and irrigator) after consulting a dentist, who will give valuable advice. The doctor will be guided by the condition of the gums, teeth and mucous membranes, and the presence of certain diseases.

Teeth whitening only in dentistry

Give preference to professional methods and whitening products used in dentistry. Remember that whitening pastes and folk remedies for home use (soda, salt, charcoal, lemon) can cause significant harm to the enamel and mucous membranes of the oral cavity, and the effect will be much more modest than what you get in dentistry.

Knowing the reasons helps to cope with the problem

One person can eat ten sour apples and wash down cold ice cream with hot coffee without feeling unpleasant symptoms in the oral cavity, while another gets a sore throat from the slightest piece of sour, a sip of hot or cold. This is due to the presence of diseases or conditions that make the mouth more sensitive.

A feeling of teeth on edge indicates the beginning of tooth decay: damage to the enamel, exposure of the dental neck.

The most common causes of a sore mouth are as follows: