Isn’t it strange that the human tooth is a living tissue with the ability to die? Yes, A dead or non-vital tooth is a tooth that has lost its nerve and blood supply. The dentin, the inner pulp, and the outer enamel make up each tooth’s three fundamental layers. A tooth is dead when its pulp is destroyed. Keep reading this blog to learn how long a dead tooth can stay in your mouth.
What is a Dead Tooth?
A tooth that is no longer getting new blood is considered dead. Blood flow to the tooth is either completely cut off or severely restricted as soon as the nerves within the pulp of the tooth are harmed or killed.
How Long Can a Dead Tooth Stay in Your Mouth?
A dead tooth can stay in your mouth for a few days, weeks, months, or even years, depending on the severity of injury. On the other hand, maintaining a dead tooth for an extended period of time might seriously harm oral health.
It might leave the mouth open to a number of issues, including:
- Tooth pain and discomfort
- Jaw issues
- The infection spreads to other teeth and gums
- Marred appearance because of discoloration
What Happens If a Dead Tooth is Left Untreated?
Keeping a dead tooth in your mouth might lead to more issues, infecting gums and other teeth. A dead tooth is typically quite noticeable and it can be bothersome if it’s one of the front teeth. Additionally, no one likes talking to someone whose breath stinks.
What are the Treatment Options for Dead Tooth?
Following are the two common dental procedure to treat a dead tooth:
Root Canal
Root canal only requires a few easy procedures and is a painless process. It’s an endodontic procedure and is advised to help in preserving the dead adult teeth. In order to extract the injured pulp from the dead tooth, your dentist will drill a hole in it then completely cleans the extracted root canal.
At last, a dentist will insert dental filling and seal the roots. The dentist may cover the treated tooth with a cap or crown for further security.
Tooth Extraction
The tooth will have to be extracted if it’s beyond repair. If the tooth is loose and readily accessible, an extraction may be all that is necessary. If not, a surgical extraction, which involves cutting into the tooth’s connective tissues, might be necessary. A bridge, denture, or dental implant can be used to replace the lost tooth after the extraction.
How Can You Prevent Dead Teeth?
Practice proper dental hygiene, including regular flossing and brushing. You can prevent cavities or tooth decay by maintaining good dental hygiene. Here’s what you need to do:
Adopt a healthy lifestyle: to avoid any problems with your mouth, dentists constantly advise eating a balanced diet. A diet high in sugar might increase the risk of tooth decay.
Exercise: You can improve your blood circulation by a regular exercise routine.
Mouthguards: It is advised to use mouthguards when participating in any contact sports to prevent dental harm to the teeth.
Final Say!
How long a dead tooth can stay in your mouth depends on the severity of the injury. It might stay for days, weeks, months, or years. So, without any further delays, get your dead teeth treated from our expert dentist, Dr. Lomesh Popat, at Divine Dental Studio of Ceres.
Schedule your appointment by calling (209) 207-7777.