We are starting our blog and answering your questions. A dark tooth after root canal treatment is a topic that interests you. Why does a tooth turn blue? What can be done to brighten a root canal treated tooth? Let us explain.
Indeed, not always, but sometimes a tooth after root canal treatment under a microscope can discolor, which makes it look unfavorable against the background of other teeth.
It simply gets in the way, especially when it plays first fiddle in its smile, i.e. when it is very visible in its smile. Especially the darker upper one can cause embarrassment. Do you know it? Do you observe a dark, gray or even black tooth after root canal treatment? You start covering your mouth with your hands, you smile less broadly… And you think, why did I need this sewer TV!
Look at it from another angle. We will say this: if it were not for root canal treatment, you would be left without a tooth in the front. And so all you need to do is deal with the discoloration. There are ways to do this: porcelain veneers and crowns, i.e. Aesthetic Dentistry.
Dark tooth after root canal treatment. Why does it turn blue?
Sometimes the tooth darkens because it is dead. After root canal treatment, the tooth may become darker, gray, even blue, black and sometimes yellow or brown! Its color changes most often due to internal bleeding of the dental pulp, which occurred due to inflammation or trauma (teeth require root canal treatment also when they have been mechanically damaged).
A properly treated tooth may also darken under the influence of chemicals used by the endodontist, which is in accordance with the art. Why?
Chemicals, although they can sometimes stain the tooth, have a beneficial effect, because they save it from extraction! If your root canal treated tooth has discoloured, there is no need to panic. Make an appointment for a consultation, we will plan what to do to make it stop standing out – like an ugly duckling among swans. Since the tooth has been endodontically treated, it is best to make an appointment with our doctors. The schedule of our doctors is available HERE.
Should you whiten a dead tooth inside the chamber?
The latest research shows that intraventricular whitening of dead teeth significantly weakens their structure. So there is a higher risk of breaking the crown. Whitening agents can also cause internal resorption (dissolution of the inside of the tooth). Therefore, at Stomo Clinic, we advise against intraventricular whitening of dead teeth.
Veneers instead of whitening – a way to get a black tooth after root canal treatment
When the tooth is slightly darker, you can simply cover it with a composite veneer.
A veneer, simply put, is a scale that masks the discoloration from the front side of the tooth. A composite veneer is made directly on the dentist’s chair from light-cured materials. You know them because dentists use them to fill carious cavities.
Why is a prosthetic crown best for dark teeth undergoing root canal treatment?
Teeth treated with root canals are dead, i.e. they are not nourished by the body, because they do not have a living pulp inside. This makes them more fragile and more susceptible to damage. They are simply weaker.
Therefore, it is worth strengthening them with crown-root inlays, and then applying prosthetic crowns on them. There are at least two benefits. Thanks to the inlay and crown, the tooth is stable and strengthened, which gives it the best chance of long-term survival in the mouth. Secondly, the crown makes our ugly duckling turn into a beautiful, white swan and is indistinguishable in a smile.
The biggest challenge? Discolored, dead one
Specialists in ceramic prosthetics say directly, if the patient has a blue tooth after root canal treatment, or more precisely the first one, prosthetic work should be performed on both ones. The upper incisors are the most visible in the smile, they are the axis of symmetry of the face, i.e. they are the central point to which we pay attention. Therefore, the ideal metamorphosis involves placing a crown on both primary incisors, even though only one of them is dead.
Then, first of all, the ones will look exactly the same, in any lighting and position. This approach is the gold standard of cosmetic dentistry. When, for economic reasons, a patient wants to make a crown for only one tooth, he must take into account that it may be slightly visible in the smile, for example, in movement or in different lighting.
