Cracked front tooth root canal

[julia91]

Hi,
About 2 months ago I fell over and chipped my front tooth. It was broken very badly there wasnt a lot of the tooth left.
I went to see my dentist and recenlty underwent a root canal filling. That was about 3 weeks ago. I also have a temporay crown on the tooth. Since the filling, I have been having little achey pains in the tooth and it has started to discolour. It looks awful, very grey.
My dentist said we need to wait 3 months then I am having a crown. How badly will the tooth discolour by then? because it is so embarrasing!

When I fell I also hit my front tooth but this one didnt break. For about 2 months after it the tooth felt like jelly, I couldnt bite anything or put any pressure on it, I couldnt even bite my lip! Since then however it is getting better, I can bite soft things and it generally feels stronger. What do you think the prognosis for that tooth is? Do you think it will recover in your experience?

Thanks for your time

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your post.

The tooth that had root canal treatment could discolour even more and can become very dark, although once its crowned the discolouration will be fully covered. This is where there is difference in opinion between dentists. Some dentists recommend crowning a root filled tooth immediately to prevent leakage and fracture. Others advocate waiting a little while to see if the root canal was successful before proceeding with a crown. I usually wait around 1 month before I place a crown although on some occasions where I think the risk of fracture or front tooth discolouration is high, I crown immediately.

The other tooth seems to be recovering well and as long as it remains sign & symptom free and vital, it should be left to recover fully. Sometimes though even months/years after a traumatized tooth has been traumatized it could lose vitality and develop signs & symptoms of infection and need root canal treatment. This is why this tooth needs regular dental checks to check to make sure its still vital and sign & symptom free.