Teeth are strong in you. Your tooth enamel is one of the hardest substances in your body. Despite this, your teeth are not superhuman. As with any living thing, teeth can die. If you lose a tooth, it isn't funny. Dead teeth are not only painful and unsightly, but they can also raise the risk of infection and abscess. Due to this, it is imperative to understand when to seek treatment for a dead tooth.
What is a Dead Tooth?
A tooth's hard outer layers, such as enamel, dentin, and cementum, are like bones. There is, however, a soft, sensitive pulp chamber beneath the armor, alive with nerves, connective tissues, and blood vessels. The pulp inside your tooth dies when the blood supply is severed. Dentists refer to non-vital teeth as necrotic teeth if the tooth's pulp has died. Dead teeth are what we commonly call non-vital teeth.
Dead Teeth and Infection
When a tooth dies, its pulp is not the worst part. The pulp is essential for a tooth to grow and develop. As long as the surrounding tissues nourish the tooth, a fully matured tooth can function even without the pulp. You can't just ignore a dead tooth, though. White blood cells and other immune cells travel to the pulp of your tooth thanks to the presence of living tissues. A tooth's pulp is isolated from this flow when it dies. The pulp chamber can become an infection breeding ground if immune cells aren't present. Mouth infection is obviously unpleasant. Infections resulting from a dead tooth are even more troublesome. A deep tooth infection may spread to the bone and the space surrounding the tooth root(s). Leaving this infection untreated can lead to the formation of an abscess, which can be painful and swollen.
Dead Tooth Causes
Dead teeth are primarily caused by decay and trauma. A crack in your tooth or an untreated cavity can cause decay to reach your tooth's pulp, causing it to inflame. When the pulp is inflamed, its blood vessels narrow. Without enough blood, the pulp eventually dies. An injured tooth can also die if it suffers a trauma like a sports injury. You can damage or pinched the nerves of your tooth if the tooth pushes upward or if it's knocked out. In much the same way that untreated decay kills the pulp of the tooth, the blood supply at the tip of the root may be severed causing the pulp to die.
Dentist Tigard, OR | Dental Blog - Lincoln Center Smiles Dr. Saklofsky has created an educational blog as a resource for our patients. If you like an article or the dental blog in general please share it to social media, then call (971) 317-9499 to make an appointment. Lincoln Center Smiles, 10500 SW Greenburg Rd, Suite 3, Portland, OR 97223-1406 / (503) 598-0898 / sakdental.com / 9/28/2024 / Key Phrases: dentist Tigard OR /
Teeth are strong in you. Your tooth enamel is one of the hardest substances in your body. Despite this, your teeth are not superhuman. As with any living thing, teeth can die. If you lose a tooth, it isn't funny. Dead teeth are not only painful and unsightly, but they can also raise the risk of infection and abscess. Due to this, it is imperative to understand when to seek treatment for a dead tooth.