Why Does Ice Cream Hurt My Teeth? : Dentacōr

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream!!

Our body is fortunate to have a temperature gauge at its entrance. Can you imagine if you couldn’t detect hot or cold before it arrived at the pharynx, esophagus, the digestive system, and more?

We have many sensors that determine if something is too cold or too hot before entering our mouths. These sensors help detect if certain things are safe for us to eat. So why do teeth hurt from ice cream? One obvious reason is ice cream is frozen, and our bodies are not! This temperature difference must be detected in order to protect the rest of our bodies. The teeth are very helpful in doing this.

Specifically, why are the teeth so sensitive, you may ask?

The teeth, much like our skin, have pores called dentinal tubules. When the hair sticks up on our arms or neck, we really notice these pores, as well as a sunburn causing pores to be extra sensitive from heat and UV light. Similarly, the pores (dentinal tubules) on our teeth expose hot and cold to the nerve of our teeth. This detects extreme hot and cold so that we know how to allow food to enter the rest of our bodies safely!

Here are some tips:

We can all “scream for ice cream!”. If you find your teeth screaming a little too loudly detecting the cold, here are a couple tips for you:

Take much smaller bites of the ice cream using a spoon
Allow the Ice cream to be softened vs frozen hard (straw vs spoon/direct contact with teeth)
Schedule an appointment for your dentist to take a look

Always keep in mind a dental examination is welcomed and could help determine why you have increased cold sensitivity and offer solutions. Your six-month dental exam and cleaning is the perfect place to discover this information with your dental professionals! Give us a call! Dentacōr loves bringing dental to you and your family!

Let us help you scream for ice cream without your teeth doing all the heavy lifting!

Will that be 1 or 2 scoops today?!;)