According to the American Dentistry Association - men and women with ginger hair require more consideration than their non-flame haired peers.
A recent study in the medical journal revealed that redheads required 20% more anesthesia than their raven-haired, brunette, and blonde counterparts.
The findings pointed out that gingers may fear the dentist more than the average person - presumably due to the heightened levels of pain felt.
It is not the only study in recent years to make links between the red hair color and an increased sensitivity to hot and cold.
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Natural redheads (whom make up about 1-2% of the world's population) are proven to suffer more from toothaches, and are at a greater risk of developing sclerosis and endometriosis according to the website EverythingForReadheads.co.uk.
"It’s thought that it’s part of our genetics, and the same thing that makes our hair red, is related to having a different experience of pain. The receptor gene MCR1 which is responsible for making redheads hair red was the focus of a study performed on mice and evidence suggested that mice with different MCR1 genes responded differently to pain and treatment," the writer points out.
"It seems that MCR1 is involved in central functions in the brain, and we know that subgroups like MC2R, MC3R and MC4R, which are also linked to redheads, have considerable involvement in brain functions. This could be the key to explaining why redheads are a little different to other people,” the article concludes.
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Meanwhile the Huffington Post adds that "strawberry blonds" who are averse to spending time in the sun may suffer as a result.
"Studies indicate that red heads may be more prone to illness because they prefer to keep out of the sun and therefore lack vitamin D. Their ability to absorb vitamin D is also less efficient," this article claims.
The website ZME Science points out that it's not all bad news for redheads, they just experience different types of pain in different ways.
"For instance, one study found that people with red hair are more sensitive to thermal pain, while another showed that they are less sensitive to a wide array of painful stimuli, such as electrically induced pain. Overall, they’re tougher than pretty much all other hair colors.
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They’re also more resistant to spicy foods, showing less sensitivity to capsaicin, the active component of chili peppers.
Are you a redhead? Let us know your thoughts!
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