Dental pulp

[Harvey]

Hi

I had a fall last night and traumatized my front tooth. The top half of my front tooth is gone completely and the tooth now looks like a stump and sometimes it bleeds from the middle of the tooth when I rub my tongue on the tooth. Its also very sensitive to whatever I eat and drink.

My friend says that I have probably broken my tooth down to the dental pulp and he thinks that I need root canal treatment. I would like to avoid root canal if possible due to its cost. Could you tell me if you think that my dental pulp has been damaged and if you think that I need root canal treatment?

If I need root canal treatment, how long does it take to do and how much does it cost? Is there an option, where I could avoid having root canal and just have a filling put on the tooth?

[Dr Ehsan J. Esfahani]

Hi Harvey

This is a severe trauma that your tooth has had and when only a stump is remaining from the tooth, elective root canal treatment is required to prevent the tooth from becoming further infected, and then restore the form and function of the tooth. Urgent treatment is necessary now.

Root canal treatment on a front tooth is usually completed in 2 visits. The first visit involves removing the infected nerve and placing medication inside the root and covering the tooth to prevent re-infection. This is performed under local aneasthetic and should you wish to have dental sedation for relaxation this can be arranged at Pearl Dental Clinic. During the second visit the root canal is cleaned, prepared and filled with filling material and sealed. A temporary crown will also be made in the second visit.

Root canal treatment usually takes 1-2 hours to complete and its costs from £200.

In this case it appears the trauma is so severe that your tooth will need root canal treatment to save. We would need to see you to assess this tooth and then provide you with the treatment options and costs. We have a 24 hour emergency service at Pearl Dental Clinic and would be happy to see you.