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General Science => General Science => Topic started by: neilep on 02/04/2006 18:55:59

Title: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: neilep on 02/04/2006 18:55:59
Last night I had some ice cream...and boy did I pay for it later on....!!..mega horrible ' teeth ache ' !!!..

.....why does that happen half hour after eating ice cream ?...I'm not talking about brain ache...I'm talking about my teeth aching !!..throbbing !!..and why half an hour afterwards ?



Men are the same as women, just inside out !
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 02/04/2006 22:44:22
Maybe, due to the warmth of your personality, the sensation of cold takes longer to reach your brain [:D]

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Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: neilep on 03/04/2006 15:21:50
What brain ?
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: another_someone on 04/04/2006 22:18:04
No idea (it doesn't do that for me), but I'll put forward the following possible conjectures.

First one: the cold ice cream closes up your capillaries, but as your teeth and gums warm up again, your blood begins to flow again, and what you have is akin to pins and needles.

Second one: the problem is not with your teeth, but with your stomach, and maybe you have a slight gastric reflux in response to the ice cream (maybe a reaction to the milk or something) that is affecting your gums.

Third one: the increased levels of sugar could cause increased bacterial activity that could raise acids levels in your mouth (although I would expect this to be more severe with something that leaves bits of sugary food in the mouth, and ice cream leaves relatively little residue).



George
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: Karen W. on 21/04/2006 10:23:06
Hey Neil, that happens to me too. Funny thing is it doesn't happen every time. It does not feel like pins and needles as was sugested and it is not the gums on me that hurt. It feels as if the teeth themselves are hurting. Really hurting. mine happen a while after I eat it also. It is never at the time I eat the lovely stuff. Like you said it is about a half hour after. give or take a few min.
  I think during the times I do not experience this , is when I am using my tongue more. When I sink the teeth into it then it happens. Weird huh. I have often wondered about that also. Can't sleep in California tonight, it's 2:21 AM. Have a good one!
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: neilep on 27/04/2006 00:19:31
Hey Karen,....it doesn't happen every time to me too...It kind of comes and go in spells. I'm releived that I'm not the only one and am pleased to share such a unique event with you...painful though it is.....which is not nice.....

..Hope you managed to get to sleep....what's it like ?
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: JimBob on 27/04/2006 02:44:35
AH! - Gadzooks! (Pop!, Fizz!, Bang!) - just struck me like a hammer. I have the last of my wisdom teeth coming in, 40+ years after the first three were chisled out without any local anesthesia, so I checked out the teeth inervation before I went to the dentist a couple of weeks ago.

One of you physician-types can correct me if I am wrong BUT I believe that the mandibular branch of the trigeminal nerve inervates the roof of the mouth as well as the upper teeth. It may be possible that the ice cream freezes the nerve and since it also inervates the maxillary branch (bottom teeth,)as the nerve thaws out, the nerve begins to complain loudly.  

I could be wrong, you know.


The mind is like a parachute. It works best when open.  -- A. Einstein
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: neilep on 27/04/2006 04:05:45
WOO !...funny you should say that Jim, I was just about to say the exact same thing [:D].....on the tip of my tongue it was ! [:D]....

I wonder if the same applies to eyesight ?..in that after reading this as my mind returns to it's numb state will I experience the same anguish.

Is it really possible that the nerve freezes ? If it does I would expect it to thaw out with reasonable speed. The pain I experience commences about 30 minutes after consuming the ice cream. I just don't think the nerve would take that long to defreeze.

It would be great to get a doctors point of view on this as your theory does contain sound reasoning behind it Jimmy Boy !!..There's a good lad ![;)]

Men are the same as women, just inside out !
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: Karen W. on 27/04/2006 07:52:02
Interesting. I have been told I have no wisdom teeth, within a two month time slot from that rather shakey statement , my wisdom tooth just up and filled up the area where they pulled the other tooth from! I have never had it removed and there is only 1 that we are aware of. It kind of does this floating thing where it comes up for awhile then it drops down a bit not out of site but lower then it reemerges . It doesnt hurt and is not bad so I see no point in removing the inoffensive thing.
 I do wonder if that could cause the problem with the ice cream freeze.
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: neilep on 27/04/2006 15:25:32
This is interesting further, as I have never had my wisdom teeth/tooth out too.

Men are the same as women, just inside out !
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: Karen W. on 05/05/2006 05:19:54
My daughter just told me that some ppeople have such roots on their wisdom teeth that they have to break the jaw to remove them. EEks, I hope she,s full of CR.....! That would be scarey! I did not know that could happen. I know they can cause serious headaches and sinus problems, and be a nuisance, but I did not know they were that hard to remove. My dentist told me she wanted me to come in the spring 3 years ago and have them removed. I said are they bad? She replied no but they should come out. She said they were in excellent shape as a matter of fact, except that they were floaters. She cut the flap of skin away from the top because it would catch food. I have had no trouble since! I wonder if those teeth do have something to do with that ice cream ache. Not everyone gets those either. My husband could not figure out what the heck I was talking about when I asked him about them several years ago. He says he has never had that happen.  He has never had his wisdom teeth out either. He is 50 now, he has had root canals on his front ones due to poor dental hygeine as a kid. I have never had a root cannal and all my teeth are mine. I have taken good care of them. Maybe he has no nerves left to have teeth freeze as we have. Who Knows! Does this ever happen to your kids or wife, or anyone else out there.
  Jim Bobs answer sounds reasonable, By the way nice to meet you JimBob, I am Karen, The pleasure is mine. ( I am offering my hand. Now I am shaking yours.) AH, nice firm hand shake there buddy! Nice to meet you!
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: Karen W. on 05/05/2006 05:25:29
It really is not like pins and needles at all. The worst aching right in the teeth. Does not feel like my gums at all. The teeth themselves actually hurt, if thats possible. I imagine gums might makeit hurt,but it feels like pain inthe hard portion of the tooth. So wierd!
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: Atomic-S on 08/05/2006 06:47:19
Eating stuff that is highly sugary is bad for your teeth, especially if it is sticky and remains on the teeth, or between the teeth, for extended periods of time. It can corrode (begin decay) and eventually you may feel a toothache coming on after eating sugary things. This is a warning; and if you want to avoid a trip to the dentist, you should immediately cut that stuff out of your diet.

Additionally, a high sugar diet can corrode teeth from within, systemically .(As when drinking many soft drinks even if you don't have them in your mouth for a long time). This kind of damage may show up as internal decay requiring a root canal. Apparently the mechanism here is that the sugar creates a strong withdrawal of calcium from your system, which is difficult to make up quickly, and the teeth are the first things to go.

The best rule on keeping your teeth in good shape is to avoid sugary food. And if you must eat such food to some extent, brush and rinse thoroughly afterward. Also, assuring your intake of essentials such as calcium, magnesium, and B vitamins will provide extra insurance.
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: neilep on 08/05/2006 17:03:09
Thank You Atomic-S.

That is very interesting information.

Do you think it is specific enough to only apply to ice cream though ?

I don't feel the effect after eating any other sugary things.

Thank you for the great advice.

Men are the same as women, just inside out !
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: Karen W. on 09/05/2006 03:51:56
I agree Neil, My teeth are in excellent condition. Yet this onlt happens with ice cream. It's funny, I drink ice water all the time and have never had this occur with that! Are milk or milk crystals any colder then ice when made into ice cream, or does it hold the cold longer or something?
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: neilep on 09/05/2006 04:04:08
You're so right Karen *waves at karen*..I too can drink ice cold drinks and have no ill effect.

Men are the same as women, just inside out !
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: JimBob on 09/05/2006 04:21:12
Yes, Karen, the teeth have nerves inside them.

Why else root canals proceedures?


The mind is like a parachute. It works best when open.  -- A. Einstein
Title: Re: Ice Cream induced Teeth Ache !!
Post by: Karen W. on 23/05/2006 05:30:49
I never thought about that Jim Bob! Thanks. Of course they do, I don't know why I did not think about that! Huh! My mind certainly is not a steel trap, thats for sure!