3. Be cautious with whitening products
While the products which contain fluoride may help minimize your sensitivity, whiteners can actually work in the opposite direction, says Dr. Messina. This includes toothpaste containing baking soda and peroxide.
“They’re trying to bubble off the stain and open up the teeth so for someone who has sensitive teeth, it may make the tooth more sensitive,” he says. Using this type of toothpaste can also dehydrate your teeth. If you’re fluid out of the little pores or tubules, that will elicit a response from the nerve endings and they’re not going to like it, adds Dr. Burnett.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the whitening technology if you happen to have sensitive teeth, it just means that you might have to go about it a different way, Messina says. “We may act to reduce the sensitivity first and then do the whitening.”
