There are plenty of us who might actually have a dead tooth in our mouth but may not be aware of the fact.
There are ways of dealing with a dead tooth such as using Carefree Dental Crowns but it is also a good idea to understand how to tell if you have the problem and what the implications are.
Has the nerve died?
Every tooth you have contains a nerve inside it and if you are able to tell if your coffee is hot and the ice cream is cold, be assured that your tooth is very much alive.
If however you are unable to feel any sensation when something hot or cold comes into contact with your tooth, that is a telltale sign that the nerve inside the tooth has died.
Some people might consider that scenario as a good thing and enjoy the fact that they can enjoy an ice cream without the sharp pain you can sometimes experience when it comes into contact with your tooth, but although not getting a toothache might be a bonus, it is not all good news.
If you have a tooth with dead tissue inside it this could create a veritable feast for bacteria and this can trigger a chain of events that leads to an infection within your tooth which could also leak out of the tip of the root.
Cause of death
There are a number of possible ways in which a tooth could die.
If you take a knock and suffer a blow to your tooth that is severe enough, there is a fair chance that this could cause the very small blood vessels at the tip of the root to get squashed, which will reduce the blood supply to the nerve sufficiently enough kill the tooth.
The difficulty with this particular circumstance is that once the starts to die it is not currently possible to arrest or reverse the decline. You could also experience a high level of pain as the nerve dies, which is called pulpitis, or the nerve might quietly die without you feeling anything at all.
Decay is another potential cause of death to your tooth, if bacteria in the decay is left untreated and is allowed to irritate the nerve, leading to you experiencing nerve pain.
Another way that your tooth could do is simply through sheer weight of use over a prolonged period of time.
You may have a pronounced bite where a particular tooth is being consistently asked to take bulk of the weight of your bite or it could be that you clench and grind your teeth during your sleep.
Both of these actions can put an undue strain on just one or two specific teeth, allowing them to become compressed and experiencing a lack of blood supply to the nerve, which will then kill it off.
The need for action
Suffering a dead tooth is unfortunate enough but it would be a bad mistake to leave the situation untreated as the bacteria that can build up could then seep out of your tooth and start to infect other areas.
If you allow the infection to build up and subsequently leak out of of the tip of the root in the tooth, this could allow the bone surrounding the tooth root to also become infected. This is the start of an abscess and even though it could take either a matter of days or even weeks to get to this position, it is something that is likely to affect you at some point of you donโt take action to address the dead tooth.
Alternatives
If you have a dead tooth, you only have two alternatives to consider when it comes to treatment.
The first option is to have the tooth removed or you could decide to undergo a root canal procedure. If you have root canal work done shortly after the tooth dies it could help prevent the tooth becoming darker, which happens when it dies.
You could also consider the option of using a dental crown to mask the dark color and ensure that you get a better match with your existing teeth which are still very much alive.
If you suspect that you may have a dead tooth, it is definitely a good idea to get an appointment with your dentist as soon as possible, so that they can evaluate the situation and then advise on your options to limit the subsequent damage that could occur if you ignore your dead tooth.
Nobody wants to be making out with a girl who hasย a dead tooth no matter how white your teeth are or what lip color you put on!
