Note: Names have been changed to protect privacy.
Susan has been coming to Forman Dental Care for more than 7 years and is now 45 years of age. When Susan was 7 years old, her and younger brother were horsing around and an accident occurred when her brother’s head collided with her upper front tooth. She felt significant pain when it happened, but the pain subsided in time. Susan had forgotten about it until she was in her mid-twenties.
She didn’t have any pain, but she did notice a bump on her gum under her lip. Susan asked her dentist about it, and was told that the tooth’s nerve was dead and the tooth had abscessed. The dentist asked Susan if there had been any history of trauma to the tooth and that was when she remembered her childhood accident. Susan required a root canal to treat the infection, and once again, Susan forgot about it until a few years ago.
What Susan noticed was that the tooth was getting darker and darker over the last few years. She came to her hygiene maintenance appointment with a great deal of concern and wanted to know what was happening, and if it could be improved.
We explained to Susan that sometimes root canal treatments can cause a tooth to discolor and turn dark even though the root canal procedure was successful. We were able to help Susan by whitening the inside of her tooth and restoring the color to match her other teeth. This procedure is called internal whitening.
It’s a simple procedure and doesn’t require any freezing. We create an opening in the top part of the tooth, (the root canal portion is not touched as long and it is well sealed) and sealed where the root canal material starts. A whitening solution is then placed inside the tooth and left for 1 week. We repeat this procedure 2-3 times until the colour is adequately improved, and a final filling is placed in the tooth. Our goal is to match the adjacent teeth so that it blends seamlessly.
