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A non-vital tooth, or dead tooth, no longer receives a fresh blood supply. This can cause the tooth to appear red, gray, light brown, and even black.
A dead tooth can be painful and costly to treat. This leads some people to wonder if treatment is necessary or if the tooth will heal on its own.
How long a dead tooth can stay in your mouth without treatment depends on the level of damage. Generally, a dead tooth can stay in your mouth for days, weeks, or even years before it causes severe complications.
If the tooth experiences enough bone loss, it may become loose and fall out on its own. However, delaying treatment can increase the risk of major oral health problems, such as tooth pain, discomfort, and infection.
A dead tooth can quickly become a serious, even life-threatening, issue without treatment. Ideally, you should see a dentist immediately after noticing the signs of a dead tooth.
A non-vital tooth can cause damage to adjacent teeth if left untreated. It can also lead to life-threatening issues elsewhere in the body.
The main risk is developing a tooth abscess, which can lead to sepsis, a life-threatening blood infection. It can also cause meningitis, a potentially lethal brain and spinal cord infection.
Other possible complications from having dead teeth include:
In addition, a discolored or black tooth may make you feel self-conscious, negatively affecting your quality of life.
A dead or dying tooth may not immediately be noticeable, and sometimes it isn’t painful at all. However, if you experience intense pain, it usually means the decay is affecting the pulp and nerve endings.
Tooth discoloration is another one of the most obvious signs of a dead or dying tooth. Healthy teeth are usually some shade of white, though staining and yellowing can occur.
A dead tooth might darken to a shade of red, blue, gray, or black that doesn’t match your other teeth. Other signs of a dead tooth include:
If you experience these signs, you should make a dental appointment. Your dentist may be able to take care of it before the problem becomes worse.
There are two primary ways a tooth may die: physical trauma and bacterial infection. Trauma or injury can damage the blood vessels inside the tooth, resulting in death.
Meanwhile, bacterial infection is typically caused by the following:
One of the main treatment procedures for a dead tooth is a root canal. Root canals are often recommended if the tooth and the surrounding bone structure are healthy, potentially saving the tooth.
The procedure typically involves making a hole in your tooth to remove the pulp. After removing the pulp, the dentist will clean the inside of the tooth, seal the roots, and place a filling. Your dentist may fit the tooth with a dental crown following root canal treatment.
The other procedure for treating a dead tooth is an extraction; this is often used when the decay has spread too far. In this case, the dentist removes the entire tooth to prevent further infection. The dentist can replace the tooth with a denture, dental implant, or bridge.
How to Prevent a Dead Tooth
You can avoid the pain of a root canal or tooth extraction by keeping your teeth healthy. Here’s how to do that:
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