Image by Authority Dental
If you’re lucky, your teeth will remain in place, alive and well in your mouth throughout your entire life. However, it’s possible for teeth to die, leaving you with a tooth that’s painful and even unsightly. Read on to learn more about what it means to have a dead tooth.
The Death of a Tooth
There are two main reasons why a tooth might die. When a tooth experiences trauma, such as a hard hit to the mouth, a fall, or aggressive tooth-grinding, the blood flow to the tooth may be lost, resulting in the death of that tooth’s pulp, which is the most vital part of the tooth. Decay can also cause a tooth to die. Infection or decay, if not properly treated, can spread to the pulp, killing the tooth.
Signs & Symptoms
So how do you know if your tooth bites the dust? When a tooth dies, it will lose its nice, pearly white color. The tooth will darken to gray and eventually can even turn black as the blood cells die. The discoloration will be permanent. In addition to the change in coloring, a dead tooth will often bring tooth pain, swelling, bad breath, and a foul taste in your mouth.
Dead Tooth Treatment
If you see or feel symptoms that lead you to believe you may have a dead tooth, you’ll want to get in touch with your dentist as soon as you can. Your dentist will determine whether or not a root canal will be able to save the tooth. Otherwise, the tooth will need to be removed.
Great Care at Paris Mountain Dental
If you think you might have a dead tooth, call Paris Mountain Dental and we’ll fit you in as soon as possible. If it’s something else that’s bothering you, we’ll be able to help—we offer a variety of services from general dentistry to cosmetic procedures to orthodontics.