root canal treatment Archives

I admit, I drink a lot of coffee and I’m a regular smoker. I know if I cut back on these habits, my teeth would look nicer. But I have been using these teeth whitening strips and nothing is happening. In fact, since I’ve started using them, the one really dark tooth I have looks worse. Is that even possible? Well, maybe the others are lightening and the really dark one just is more noticeable. So, I started cutting the strips so I can place it only on the really dark tooth. Why isn’t it working on the main tooth I want to focus on?

-Sheila in North Carolina

Sheila,

Thank you for your question. It sounds like you have figured out that most of your teeth are being whitened from the tooth whitening strips. But there is one fairly discolored one that is not lightening. This is actually a concern. It should be responding like the others are, if it is indeed surface staining on the tooth from coffee and smoking. But since it’s not, there may be a problem. For example, if the tooth is gray and isn’t whitening, it may be dead. Did you suffer a trauma that you can recall? Do you have any pain? These would be symptoms of a dead tooth.

It is important to schedule an appointment to get an x-ray on the tooth. If the tooth is not getting blood flow, it may turn into an infection and will require treatment to save the tooth. Don’t put this off because it may end up requiring a root canal. During that procedure, the color of the tooth can be improved.

It sounds like the tooth that isn’t responding to the whitening, may be stained from the inside and not externally. No tooth whitening strips, take-take home trays, or powerful Zoom whitening will help, if it is dead. An experienced cosmetic dentist may be able to explore the option of whitening it from the inside. But if it does need a root canal, you may end up with a porcelain crown anyway, which will improve the appearance of the tooth.

Don’t put off seeking treatment to figure out what is going on with the tooth and why it is not responding to the tooth whitening.

I had a change in my dental insurance, so I decided to go to a new dentist for a checkup. He discovered a cavity and went ahead and took care of it in the same appointment. He used dental bonding to fix the cavity and the tooth just hasn’t been right since. It kept hurting days after and so I decided to go back in. The dentist went ahead and adjusted it. But, it still bothered me. So, he did not once more, but two more times. Sadly, I got used to it.

When my insurance switched again, I went to another dentist. He took care of the pain and found that there was food getting stuck between the tooth and my gums. So, he decided that the filling just needed to be redone. I thought I was finally free and clear, but after I got home and the medication wore off, my tooth was killing me. I took ibuprofen to help, but it never got better. In fact, it was starting to keep me up at night and was extremely sensitive. The dentist prescribed me steroids to address the inflammation. When I called back into tell him about it, he recommended to have it extracted. How did I get to this point from a simple cavity that was filled?

-Beck in Indiana

Dear Beck,

First off, I’m sorry you are suffering through this situation. From dental bonding to a possible extraction, it just doesn’t add up. Neither dentist succeeded in properly treating you. The dental bonding should have been able to have been adjusted the first time. You should not have had to continually go back in because of adjustments. And the next dentist should have been able to replace the filling to correct the problem, without further traumatizing the tooth. But that’s neither here nor there.

It really sounds like something wasn’t right with the composite filling to start with. Also, steroids are not the appropriate medication to address the problem. The symptoms regarding the tooth pain at night and also the sensitivity sound like a possible infected tooth. And steroids attack the immune system which would have compromised your natural ability to combat infection.

Is it possible your dental insurance is restrictive or limiting your ability to select qualified dentists. Dental bonding requires a high degree and understanding of bonding materials and technology. And both dentists failed to address the issue. Without knowing too much about your insurance situation, it sounds as if you may have been stuck with some dentists that were lesser skilled and may be limited by your insurance plan.

At this point, it would be worth it to pay a little bit extra to get the tooth taken care of once and for all. The tooth should not require an extraction, based on what you have described. Don’t let either dentist move forward with that. A root canal treatment can save the tooth and help you move past this negative experience.

These teeth whitening strips are doing nothing.

My dentist screwed up my dental bonding and now he’s talking extraction!