A white & fresh smile can captivate almost anyone and so it is a frequently asked question by youngsters “Can a grey tooth turn white again?”
And the simple answer is yes. It’s relatively concerning for young people to have grey teeth. Whether you are in college,University or Job,it’s essential to have white teeth to maintain your profile amongst your peers. If you have grey teeth,then they might see you in a negative light.
That’s why in order to solve this dilemma most of the young people ask questions like “Can a grey tooth turn white again?” Or “Can a brown tooth turn white again?” Or “Can you whiten a grey tooth?” Or “How to whiten a grey tooth?”
These questions are asked by different people from a different angle & different point of view.
But ultimately they mostly have the identical answer. And I will discuss these solutions with you.
Probing inside a tooth
Before we delve into the grey teeth problem and its solutions,first we need to have a basic knowledge about a tooth’s general structure.That way it will be easy for you to understand the problem and its solution.
So a tooth is divided into three layers. Those are:
- Enamel:It is the most outer part of a tooth.It mostly consists of minerals.Its main duty is to ensure the protection of both dentin and pulp.
- Dentin:It is the middle layer of a tooth.It mostly consists of hollow like tubules.
- Pulp:It is the most inner layer of a tooth.It consists of blood vessels and nerves.
Types of grey teeth occurring
A grey teeth occurring can happens in two ways:
- Wide spread color change to all teeth: This widespread color change can happen due to teeth staining.And this is maybe caused due to tooth development or due to aging.
- A noteworthy color change in a single tooth: This is caused by trauma.It is also known as dental trauma. Like when your knee turns blue or black after getting hurt somewhere. Your tooth also turns grey when you receive trauma to your tooth.
Mechanism of grey teeth occurring
First of all this can happen due to improper care of your teeth. If you don’t care for your teeth properly,then teeth will lose their functionality causing grey teeth occurring.
Then it also happens due to aging.As the people grow old,their teeth also lose their functioning capabilities in due time causing a widespread color change in all of the teeth.
Lastly and mainly grey teeth occurring happens due to some kind of trauma.If you got into any kind of accident and cause trauma to your teeth,then grey teeth occurring can happen.
Or this can happen due to some kind of infection.This phenomenon can take place in a single tooth or multiple teeth.
When your tooth receives trauma or gets infected,the nerve and the blood vessels in the pulp get damaged.Similar to the way when you receive a bruise and the bruise changes its color in due time,the dead and the blood vessels within the pulp chamber of the tooth undergo a degradation process.Thus changing its color and causing grey tooth occurring.
How to whiten a grey tooth?
Like I said before, nothing feels better than your natural smile. With proper care and treatment you can maintain your natural smile. So if your teeth turns grey , the only solution to it would be the root canal treatment.
The Root canal treatment is also known as Endodontic treatment. Endodontics is a specialized area of dentistry and its only goal is to treat diseases and injury to the dental pulp.
The people who are specialized in this are called Endodontists. They use microscope and digital imaging with their advanced training in the root canal treatment to treat your tooth.
The root canal treatment has 5 stages involved in it.
- Numb the tooth: It is done so that you wouldn’t feel pain during the treatment. And a small shield is placed in order to isolate the tooth and keep it dry.
- Opening: Opening is done through the enamel and dentin into the pulp chamber.
- Cleaning: After the cleaning is done,fluid is put in the canals to remove any kind of bacteria and it also helps to rinse the debris out.
- Pulp remove: After the cleaning,pulp is removed from the tooth. Then using the small instrument they clean and shape the canals.
- Filling: And lastly we have to fill and seal the root canal.In most cases a temporary filling is placed to close the opening until it can be opened again according to the dentist inspection.
Can a brown tooth turn white again?
We know that grey teeth occur due to the damage of the nerve and blood vessels. After the damage, it undergoes a degradation process.
Over time this will cause the enamel of your teeth to turn not grey but also brown,purple,dark yellow and black.
So we can say that brown teeth occurring is a similar matter to the grey teeth occurring. So their solution is also the same. You can turn a brown tooth into white tooth using the root canal treatment.
Is my grey tooth dead?
How do you know whether your grey tooth is dead or not?
To know the answer you have to check whether your grey tooth responds to improved oral hygiene or whitening treatment or not.
If your tooth does not respond to these, then it is highly likely that your nerves and the blood vessels are mostly damaged. And it can not properly function again.
Is my grey tooth an emergency?
Discoloration is not the only determining factor to know whether your tooth need an emergency root canal treatment or not.
To diagnose your need for a root canal treatment,your dentist need to have
- a thorough visual inspection
- Take one or multiple dental X-rays
- Perform temperature testing to diagnose the responsiveness of the nerves
After the inspection, if you have
- Swelling in the gum
- Pus drainage
- Pain when you chew
Then you may have urgent problems and need an emergency root canal treatment.
Bottomline
Prevention is better than cure. So in order protect your natural white smile, you have take proper care of your teeth and need to make sure that they don’t receive any kind trauma.
Even after all of the cautions, if your teeth receive trauma then you have to contact your dentist as soon as possible. Even after the treatment is done , you have to check up with your dentist from time to time so that any further problem doesn’t arise.
