I had an accident on my tooth when I was a child. Over the years it has turned more and more brown. It’s causing me to not want to smile. I went to see my dentist about it and he said there isn’t a root there anymore and I should just remove the tooth and put a fake one there.  Is there a way to have a pretty tooth if it is fake?

Rebecca

Dear Rebecca,

What you are suffering from is root resorption. It is a shame your childhood dentist didn’t give you a root canal treatment when you had the injury. That could have prevented the resorption. It isn’t a guarantee, but not doing anything definitely leads to resorption. He is right that at this point the tooth cannot be saved. It doesn’t sound like he spoke to you about any of your options.

The top of the line option is to get a dental implant. This places a prosthetic root in your jaw and once the bone has integrated with the implant a dental crown will be placed. It has the benefit of being the most secure option and the closest thing to having a natural tooth. However, it is the most expensive option.

If that isn’t for you, the next step would be to get a dental bridge. This suspends a false tooth between two dental crowns. This makes sense if either of those teeth already need crowns. If they don’t, you may not want to grind down healthy tooth structure unnecessarily.

There are less expensive options as well such as a removable partial denture or a dental flipper. Neither of those will be secured to your teeth, so just be aware they come out.

Is Your Dentist Serving You Well?

I’m a tad concerned that your dentist isn’t taking adequate care of you. This is especially true if this is the same dentist that didn’t deal with your tooth injury to begin with that is especially concerning.

It also sounds like he’s leaving you to figure out what to do about replacing your tooth. In reality, he is ethically bound to give you all your options. It may be time to ask why he isn’t doing that.

Will a False Tooth Look Attractive?

As to your concern with how the false tooth will look, that depends completely on the cosmetic dentistry skill of the dentist doing the work. Creating beautiful smiles is an art form. The best cosmetic dentists are AACD accredited, which is completely different from membership, which any dentist can do.

This blog is brought to you by Philadelphia Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Michael Weiss.