Why Do My Teeth Feel Weird?

Teeth are a strange thing. We need them to eat, speak, and do all sorts of fundamental things to live and be happy.

Why Do My Teeth Feel Weird?

Still, as dentistry can be a quite specific and niche subject, you can easily get blindsided by dental problems, and that’s not mentioning how much it can cost to get a simple diagnosis.

If you aren’t in immediate pain, and nothing seems too extreme, but your teeth feel a little weird, there are many reasons why, which can be small or can be cause for concern – here are some potential issues you can troubleshoot against.

Sensitivity

Sensitive teeth are a super common thing that will occur in most adults throughout their life. This is mainly due to how much sugar humans consume.

Sugar essentially wears away at your enamel and when your enamel has been worn down the nerves of your teeth system can become more sensitive to sugar.

Having sensitive teeth feels like sharp nerve pain and will occur when you eat something too cold, too hot, or something that is very sugary.

Sensitive teeth can be an easy fix. You can build up your enamel by practising better dental hygiene.

Grinding Your Teeth

One big reason your teeth may feel weird, especially if you feel your dental hygiene is on point, could be because you are grinding your teeth in your sleep.

If you wake up and your teeth feel ‘weird’ and sort of achey. It could be because you were grinding them in your sleep.

This is commonly called ‘Bruxism’ and actually can occur quite often. The issue with bruxism is that it’s not really a dental problem.

Bruxism is often a comfort response or stress response our body unconsciously falls into while we sleep. 

If you are grinding your teeth in your sleep, this will often be a mental issue caused by stress, depression, anxiety, or a whole bunch of potential issues.

A dentist may suggest muscle relaxation or a mouthguard for a temporary fix.

Gum Recession

If your gums feel weird and sort of holey like a cavity, it could be because your gums are receding.

Gum recession is a really annoying dental phenomenon. Even if you have super healthy teeth and great dental hygiene, you may find that your gums are receding anyway.

This is because some people will be more genetically disposed to gum recession than others. For example, around 88% of people over 65 have gum recession.

Even more annoyingly, when your gums recede, there isn’t any way to get them back.

There are procedures to help lessen potential damage that an exposed root canal could cause, but you can’t naturally regain your gums.

However, with this said, there are obvious things that can cause it, such as excessive smoking, bad dental hygiene, overbrushing your teeth, and potential piercings in the mouth area.

Furry Teeth

Why Do My Teeth Feel Weird?

Do you ever wake up and feel like your teeth are fuzzy and have a weird matte coating?

On the one hand, this might be a dental plaque, meaning you need to clean your teeth. On the other hand, this is the feeling you get when you have forgotten to clean your teeth.

Similarly, you might be a bit dehydrated and need to drink more water.

The other side of this, providing your dental hygiene is good, is that you might be eating a lot of oxalic acid through food.

If your diet is rich in oxalic acid, from eating loads of stuff like spinach, kale, sweet potato, and beets, anything high in oxalic acid can make your teeth feel like this.

Consider reducing the levels of oxalic acid in your diet.

Broad Achiness

If you feel like you have a general ache, like a muscle ache, in your jaw and general oral area, this could be because you have a tooth coming through.

When teeth come through, they don’t wait for the others and force themselves through the gum line, moving your teeth around.

While this is natural, it can feel weird and certainly feel even worse when you are getting a wisdom tooth coming through.

Dull Tooth Pain When Walking On Hard Surfaces

If you have great dental care and health and still get a really strange occurrence of pain in your teeth, it could be this strange phenomenon – you may have a sinus infection.

Often a sinus infection can be diagnosed this way.

For example, if you get a strange feeling in your top teeth when you walk up and down stairs, jump off something and land or walk on hard surfaces, this could be a sinus infection.

Your top teeth made a strange amount of contact with your sinus. Just think about it, but if your sinus is infected, it will fill up with liquid.

The pressure this causes on your teeth can make them feel ‘weird’. See a doctor if this describes your feeling.

Sinus infections cause weird sensations, so don’t worry too hard.

Burnt Tongue

Your teeth might feel weird because of your tongue.

If you have burnt your tongue and haven’t really realized when your tongue touches your teeth, it may cause your teeth to feel weird, but you may not actually have weird teeth. It’s just your tongue.

In this case, just drink some cold liquids and wait for your tongue to return to normal. If your teeth still feel weird afterwards, you may need to check one of the other options.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are many reasons why your teeth might feel weird. The main thing worth separating here is pain from discomfort.

If you feel discomfort in your teeth, it could be pretty straightforward.

But, in contrast, if you genuinely feel the pain that often occurs, then this is definitely something to go to your dentist or medical professional about.

Andrew Kemp
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