Discoloured front tooth

[Carly]

Hi

I have a front tooth which was damaged in a bike accident a few years ago. The tooth died after the accident and my dentist did a root filling on that tooth and later the tooth started to discolour.

I am getting married in six months and don't wish to have my discoloured front tooth show on my wedding photos. I have tried teeth whitening but it could not whiten my root filled tooth and only the other teeth became whiter.

I am now thinking about getting a veneer placed on that discoloured tooth. But my dentist is suggesting that a crown would be a better solution. I am just worried that with a crown, a lot of my tooth will be removed. Could you tell me what you would suggest I have for this front tooth.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Hi

Thank you for your post. Generally speaking a crown is more suitable for a root filled tooth simply because it protects the tooth against fracture and provides a good coronal seal for the root canal below.

However there are root filled cases that have been done with minimal tooth removal and the tooth is sound and in these cases sometimes I opt to place a veneer as a veneer involves less tooth removal.

In your case, we would need to see your tooth first before we can tell you if a veneer or a crown or even internal tooth whitening would be the best treatment.