You Can Whiten A Tooth Darkened By A Root Canal

Dentist Blog

When your tooth needs a root canal, you may notice because of the horrible discoloration that occurs. This results both from the destruction of your tooth and from any treatments that you use on the tooth afterward. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve the bright smile that you might want. But, the darkened tooth can be whitened, fortunately.

Your Tooth Will Need A Different Treatment

The tooth that is darkened by the root pulp infection and the root canal therapy can be treated through an internal or non-vital bleaching. Root canal therapy involves the removal of the root pulp. Afterward, the dentin is no longer living and will begin to darken with time. Fortunately, the tooth can be whitened by placing bleach inside the empty pump chamber. Sodium perborate is the most common and safest agent to do this with. When mixed with hydrogen peroxide, this ingredient accelerates the change in color of the discolored tooth. 

Teeth affected by a root canal treatment will not whiten at the same rate as other teeth. However, they will still whiten with time. One of the challenges is that traditional teeth whitening methods are mostly topical. The whitening agent unfortunately does not penetrate deeply enough to whiten a stain that is mostly beneath the surface.

You Many Not Need Teeth Whitening

In some cases, teeth whitening might not be necessary because you may need to have a portion of your tooth replaced with a dental crown. Then, the crown's color can be chosen to match the color of the rest of the teeth or the shade of white that your dentist is trying to achieve through tooth whitening treatments. 

How The Treatment Works

The treatment begins with a radiographic examination that checks to ensure that the root canal is still intact. Otherwise, further treatments may be necessary before it will then be necessary to perform a tooth whitening treatment. Then, a small cavity needs to be drilled in the back. Your dentist needs to clean the space of debris and staining agents. The canal is then cleaned and irrigated. The top part of the root canal filling is covered with a special cement to create a double seal that prevents the bleaching agent from leaking out. The bleaching agent is applied. Once the desired color has been achieved, a filling is then used to seal the dentin. While it may take more than one treatment, your dentist can eventually whiten your tooth.

For more information, contact professionals like Accent On Dentistry - Rowena R Martir DMD.​

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