Tooth sensitivity - fluoride gels

[comjac]

Hi all

I have tooth sensitivity in my front teeth in spite of using sensodyne tooth paste and a mouth wash long term. I have had my teeth checked recently and cleaned and there is nothing wrong with them apart from this. Recently, I have tried using a higher strength stanous 0.4% fluoride gel which I bought of the internet, when it has been painful, which seems to help but I am worried about using this regularly because of the possibility of staining my teeth and also whether it meant that my teeth were having too much fluoride. What do you think of these gels and should I be using them, if so how often or is there some better alternative. Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your post.

For tooth sensitivity if caused by exposed root dentine, I usually recommend applying sensodyne directly to the sensitive dentine areas and leaving them overnight for 2-3 weeks every night. That usually works but if that does not work, I usually cover the exposed dentine areas with white fillings and thats usually the end of the problem.

I normally reserve recommending high fluoride toothpastes and mouthwashes for adults who have a high decay rate as F- is very anti-decay. Obviously these high F- agents should only be used topically and never ingested.