Throbbing Tooth Agony

Why is one tooth ultra-sensitive to hot drinks? Every cup of tea is a lottery and if I lose, I'm hit with 60 seconds of debilitating nerve pain as one tooth complains loudly, sending throbbing signals of agony strong enough to suspend my normal activities. Well I'm not listening. This sort of juvenile whingeing won't get anywhere and has even made me more determined than ever to immerse that tooth in boiling tea water every few hours until it grows up and stops complaining.