It Hurts So Good
Let's talk about PAIN. Is it good for us or bad for us? We live in a social media world surrounded by motivational memes telling us there's no gain without pain and that we need to suffer for our success, ect. Because pain is just weakness leaving the body after all. Let's dive deeper.
Mirriam-Webster defines pain as 1) a localized or generalized unpleasant bodily sensation or complex of sensations that causes mild to severe physical discomfort and emotional distress and typically results from bodily disorder (such as injury or disease), and 2) a basic bodily sensation that is induced by a noxious stimulus, is received by naked nerve endings, is associated with actual or potential tissue damage, is characterized by physical discomfort (such as pricking, throbbing, or aching), and typically leads to evasive action. It also associated pain with mental or emotional distress or suffering.
It is a globally accepted opinion that pain is bad. It is unwelcome in our lives, a nuisance. We would like to never experience pain again in any of its forms, right? If we revisit the definition from above we see that pain will lead to evasive action following a noxious stimulus. Who uses words like that anyway? "I fell off my bicycle and experienced a myriad of noxious stimuli." Like what? "Oh, mainly the asphalt ripping off my skin." Yes, noxious stimuli is fancy talk for tissue damage.
As much as we would love to never feel pain again, pain is an important part of helping us live life as successfully and as healthy as possible. There are individuals who are born without the ability to feel pain. This condition is called Congenital Analgesia. A major finding in these individuals is damage to their tongues and checks from chewing on them. Think of pain as constructive criticism from your body, these individuals do not receive this feedback and suffer the consequences.
So the scientists have determined, quite convincingly I might add, that the ability to sense pain is requisite for thriving throughout this life. This is further supported when you consider an individual who doesn't experience emotional pain or distress. We have another word for folks like this, sociopaths. That's no bueno.
I mentioned that pain resulted from tissue damage and we have a lot of different tissue types in our bodies. The majority of these tissues have sensitive nerve endings close to the surface and will respond readily and rapidly to "noxious stimuli." Our evasive action will be quick and we will reduce the amount of tissue damage experienced. There are however, tissues that have no nerve endings at all and will not readily or rapidly respond to damage. As a dentist I am very concerned with one of these tissues, and that is tooth enamel.
The enamel on your teeth is the hardest and most highly mineralized substance in your body. It covers the outer layer of each tooth and it is the most visible part of the tooth. The enamel is made up mostly of minerals, primarily hydroxyapatite. In other words there are no living cells within your tooth enamel.
Enamel plays a very important role in protecting your teeth from decay, so it is important to do everything that you can to prevent your enamel from eroding. It forms a strong barrier that protects the inner layers of your teeth from the effects of acids and plaque; it also protects the sensitive inner layers of your teeth from foods and beverages that are very hot or very cold.
Let's recap the previous paragraphs. There is nothing stronger in our bodies than enamel. It does not feel pain, rather it protects us from pain. If it is being damaged it does not initiate evasive action. This is somewhat unfortunate in my world as a dentists as cavities are forming all over the Flathead Valley and the victims are unaware. "But wait," you wonder, "I have teeth that are sensitive to cold, or to sugary foods. What does that mean?" This means that there are areas where your protective enamel is either gone, or becoming very thin and compromised.
This is the number one reason why my profession of dentistry recommends annual updates to your x-rays and intra-oral examination by your dentist. We can catch enamel breakdown quite easily on a dental radiograph and can offer you that "constructive criticism to possibly reevaluate and/or reinvigorate your oral hygiene and nutritional habits. Especially as we enter this 2019 Holiday Season. Happy Fall Everyone!!
Read It Hurts So Good by Dr. John F. Miller, DDS in 406 Woman magazine.