Enjoyed that reminds me of when I was a student wish we had such a valuable platform to share and support great job done Jas on supporting the students 🙌👏👏💫🤗 good to have to refresh the old brain cells 🥴
I have a question about pain/sensitivity. Dentists ask questions such as is it a sharp pain or dull, do you feel pain upon biting, is it with cold/warm food, etc. Can you explain what information the dentist is looking for and how it helps them diagnose?
Dentist here. The purpose of those questions is to help us determine what kind of issue you may be having with the tooth or confirm something we may be seeing on an x ray or other type of image. For instance, if the pain is sharp in response to cold or sugary foods, it could simply be a cavity that needs a filling. If the cavity has reached the nerve and caused irreversible inflammation, you’ll often find that the patient is sensitive to heat and needs a root canal usually followed by a crown in order to save the tooth before it becomes necrotic because it won’t heal on its own. If the tooth is necrotic (dead), you may have a lingering achey sensitivity to pressure when you bite down but absolutely no ability to feel cold, whereas if the tooth is alive but sensitive to both cold and pressure when biting down, it could be due to harmful grinding habits. If the tooth is alive and sensitive to pressure that worsens when you *release* the bite or when biting on a little instrument we use to check each cusp of the tooth, you may have a cracked tooth that needs a crown or a root canal and a crown or possibly extraction depending on the extent of the crack. Those are just a few examples of how those questions help us figure out the best type of treatment for your specific issue or what further tests we need to run to narrow it down. Hope it helps!
Enjoyed that reminds me of when I was a student wish we had such a valuable platform to share and support great job done Jas on supporting the students 🙌👏👏💫🤗 good to have to refresh the old brain cells 🥴
very kind doc thank you!
I have a question about pain/sensitivity. Dentists ask questions such as is it a sharp pain or dull, do you feel pain upon biting, is it with cold/warm food, etc. Can you explain what information the dentist is looking for and how it helps them diagnose?
I wish my channel had capacity to serve patients too - this would require a small essay. Wishing you the best
Dentist here. The purpose of those questions is to help us determine what kind of issue you may be having with the tooth or confirm something we may be seeing on an x ray or other type of image. For instance, if the pain is sharp in response to cold or sugary foods, it could simply be a cavity that needs a filling. If the cavity has reached the nerve and caused irreversible inflammation, you’ll often find that the patient is sensitive to heat and needs a root canal usually followed by a crown in order to save the tooth before it becomes necrotic because it won’t heal on its own. If the tooth is necrotic (dead), you may have a lingering achey sensitivity to pressure when you bite down but absolutely no ability to feel cold, whereas if the tooth is alive but sensitive to both cold and pressure when biting down, it could be due to harmful grinding habits. If the tooth is alive and sensitive to pressure that worsens when you *release* the bite or when biting on a little instrument we use to check each cusp of the tooth, you may have a cracked tooth that needs a crown or a root canal and a crown or possibly extraction depending on the extent of the crack.
Those are just a few examples of how those questions help us figure out the best type of treatment for your specific issue or what further tests we need to run to narrow it down. Hope it helps!