A few weeks ago I had a bad fall and hit my mouth on a bike rack. I didn’t go to a dentist or anything at the time because I don’t have any insurance or any money, but now all my front teeth both on the top and on the bottom are turning black. There is a weird lump up near my nose, almost like a root snapped off and is sticking out or something. Is that even accurate? I don’t know much about teeth.
Should I go to a dentist or a doctor? Is it too late to do anything? I am worried that I am going to lose my teeth.
I don’t even have any idea what they would do for this kind of thing. I can’t afford anything expensive. What is the cheapest way they might fix this?
Randy in Berrien Springs
Dear Randy,
If a tooth turns black after trauma to the tooth, it is a sign that the nerve tissue inside the tooth is dead. In that case, the tooth will need root canal treatment.
In your case, it sounds like you will need several. Root canal treatments in and of themselves are not expensive compared to other dental procedures, and also not as harrowing as they have popularly been portrayed.
In many cases, teeth that have had root canal treatments have dental crowns placed over them. If money is an option, there is a method of bleaching teeth from the inside that many dentists don’t know about. For this reason, you would be best served going to a cosmetic dentist as opposed to a general dentist to get this work done. His fees may be a little higher, but the procedures would be less expensive.
Root canals on front teeth are usually a few hundred dollars for each tooth. If dental crowns or porcelain veneers are necessary, add about two thousand dollars per tooth to the total cost. As you can see, if a method of bleaching your teeth is available, it would certainly be less expensive.
This blog posted courtesy of the office of Grosse Pointe Woods cosmetic dentist Dr. Hadgis.