Discoloured tooth after root canal

[ian]

Hello

I had my upper front middle teeth root treated after an accident last year. The tooth is not causing me any pain but it has become very dark, so now it looks much darker than the other teeth around it.

Is this normal and is there anything that can be done to make it whiter again.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

After root canal treatment teeth can discolour and this is not abnormal. There are several things you can do:

1. Have the tooth internally bleached (although not a permanent solution)- sounds like you have already tried this one.

2. Place a Porcelain crown over the tooth, this usually produces a good cosmetic result. Also crowns seal the root canal very well and produce a good coronal seal and protect the tooth from fracture.

3. If most of the tooths enamel still remains, you may be able to have a veneer placed on the tooth. The Veneer is less tooth destructive compared to the crown but is not always possible to do a veneer, if most of the tooth has been removed during root canal treatment.


Generally after successful root canal treatment, a crown is the recommended treatment but you will have to have a consultation to determine the correct treatment for you.