Dear Dr. Hall,
I took a nasty fall about a month ago and now all my front teeth and bottom are turning black. I also feel like I have a root sticking up towards the nose area. Do I go to the dentist or a md? And what do they do for this type of injury? Implants or veneers? Any idea on how much this would cost?
Regards,
Micky from Arizona
Micky,
When your teeth turn black after a traumatic injury, it is probably because you have killed the nerve tissue inside the teeth, and that tissue has died. If that is the case, the teeth will need root canal treatments.
There would be a way to bleach the darkened teeth from the inside so that after the root canal treatments you wouldn’t need crowns on those teeth, but a lot of dentists may not know how to do that.
You didn’t mention anything about displacing these teeth. Can I assume that they’re all in the correct places? About the root sticking up toward the nose area, I’m not sure exactly what you mean by this. It is possible to surgically re-position the teeth, but that is difficult unless it is done right after the injury, before the bone has healed. The other option is to remove the displaced tooth and place a dental implant.
All of this would be under the care of a dentist, particularly a skilled, highly trained cosmetic dentist such as we recommend on our website. As far as costs – root canal treatments on front teeth would be a few hundred dollars apiece. If they required crowns or veneers to cover the black, you can figure on one two two thousand dollars apiece for that. In Arizona, you’ll be on the lower end of that range.
It’s also possible that you cracked the roots of these teeth. If that has happened, the teeth may not be savable and will have to be extracted.
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About David A. Hall
Dr. David A. Hall was one of the first 40 accredited cosmetic dentists in the world. He practiced cosmetic dentistry in Iowa, and in 1990 earned his accreditation with the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is now president of Infinity Dental Web, a company in Mesa, Arizona that does advanced internet marketing for dentists.