Author: SomosDental

A black tooth is a clear signal that the tooth is devitalized, this means that the tooth pulp and nerve are dead.

A tooth turns black when it loses blood flow. Therefore, a black tooth is weaker than a healthy tooth, so as time passes the tooth starts darkening until hitting a near-black color. That is the reason for the name!

Children are especially prone to suffer several accidents through their childhood, this causes that some of the fracture or damage their dentures, this happens when children hit their denture directly, which causes permanent damage to their dental pieces.

According to statistics data, it is estimated that between 8% to 30% of children under the age of 7 have suffered some kind of denture accident which mainly damage their frontal tooth pieces. Every time they suffer dental trauma, the tooth can turn to a different color pigment, such as pink, gray, blue, black, and more commonly: black.

Some causes for a black tooth can be the following:

1. Traumatism
   A hit in the denture can cause dental pieces to change their color to any of the specified above. A hard hit can cause fracture, chips, and dents, which can subsequently cause nerve damage and weakening the tooth.

2. Pulp necrosis
   Sometimes a darkened tooth may be a symptom of pulp necrosis, although it can also be related to other motives such as calcifications or internal bleeding. Pulp necrosis is the total or partial dead of the tooth’s soft tissue which is also known as the pulp. It is also the main cause of bacterial infections since dead tissues get easily infected. The most common cause of pulp necrosis is due to an accident that caused a tooth traumatism. The accident causes blood vessels to bleed inside the tooth, significantly weakening them and causing uncomfortable or even intense pain. As time passes bacteria starts building up in the dead tissues, causing the dental piece to start darkening. Tissues infected by bacteria are toxic and cause gum inflammation.

3. Deep dental cavities
   It is important to visit your dentist every six months. You also ought to have an annual dental cleaning so you can prevent any mouth/dental problems, such as cavities. Dental cavities can permanently damage your teeth if they are not controlled, they can not only turn them black, you can also end losing your dental pieces!

4. Black teeth treatment
   There are some options for treating a black tooth. When a black tooth is caused by a traumatism an endodontic followed by a whitening treatment is needed. Furthermore, there are more details to have in considerations, such as if there is a fracture. If the piece is severely damaged sometimes it will be needed to extract and replace the tooth. When there is a deep-rooted cavity, the infection first needs to be controlled by an endodontic treatment as long as the tooth root is intact and the bone has not to be damaged; once there is no more infection, the piece is restored with a porcelain crown.

Where can I be attended?

In Somos dental we are health care experts, we are located in 4 different places, Downtown, Desert Sky, Mesa, and Camelback. Schedule an appointment at 623-869-1091.

Don’t risk your health, come with the experts.

Chewing gums comes from ancient civilizations, people used to make several cuts through tree trunks and they used to get tree sap which they let dry and used to chew so they could clean their mouth, their teeth or even for calming down hunger. However, it differs from those days, nowadays we have several chewing gum brands which have let people create chewing habits to the point in which they never stop chewing.

1. Muscle over-stimulation from chewing
   If you chew gum regularly, jaw muscles start to grow and get stronger. The problem is that when chewing we over-use force which. Therefore, in few words, chewing gum for several hours is the equal of training in a mouth gym.
2. Headaches.
   This one is straightly related to the first point since jaw muscles get stronger, they get tense enough to develop headaches. This is because these muscles are really close to the ear canal temporomandibular joint, it gets inflamed, and produce strong headaches; several times these headaches are caused by excessive gum chewing, so we ought to have precautions with this.
3. Neck pain
   When this joint is overstimulated, you will develop neck pain. This is because all those muscles are connected, and that can be directly caused by excessive gum chewing. Therefore, if you suffer from neck pain, and you chew gum, you ought to be careful since this could be what is developing the pain.
4. Heartburn
   This symptom is straightly related to chewing gum. For example, if you have not eaten, and you start to chew gum, your stomach will think that you are actually eating, therefore, it will star producing stomach acids so it can receive the ´food´, making you suffer from heartburns. You will also get some throat irritation and all the acidity symptoms. This is why it is not recommended to chew gum while on an empty stomach.
5. Dental works damage
   If you have dental works, such as amalgams, dental resins, dental crowns, dental braces, or any other kind of dental work, gum should be your worst enemy. These works are made to support loads, but not to be pulled by the gum. This will sooner or later some damage to your dental investment.
6. Diarrhea
   Most sugar-free gums have sweeteners, which are a good option to avoid sugar intake for those with medical illnesses such as diabetes. The problem comes when there is a sweetener abuse which leads to diarrhea. Therefore, if you chew gum regularly, it is more than probable that you also have to visit the toilet regularly.
7. Tongue growth
   When the tongue gets overstimulate from chewing gum, it tends to grow, which can cause different sleep problems such as snoring.

8. Tooth wear
   Each time the chewing gum is chewed the teeth are indirectly crashing, so they wear out.

Teeth originally come out white and healthy, it is us who stain and damage them by our bad eating and hygienic habits that we have not changed.

There are several foods and products which stain and weaken our teeth, such as tobacco, mouthwashes, black tea, BBQ sauce, and dark beer. But, there are some others that damage them even more. Such is the case with the next list.

1. Coffee
   Coffee’s acidity and color are staining your teeth considerably. We all know that coffee is the equivalent to fuel for a lot of people, it gives us the energy to work and do several other activities. If this is your case, we recommend you that whenever you finish your coffee, you carefully wash your mouth to prevent stains. As good as coffee can be, it is something that you should not have in your mouth all day long.

2. Red wine.
   One of men’s most important invention, which have led us to uncountable pleasures, can also have negative effects on our teeth. Red wine has tannins that stain teeth; its’ acidity level is enough to weaken and stain our teeth enamel. Our suggestion is that once that you finish a glass of wine, you rinse and carefully, wash your mouth, and brush your teeth since this will prevent your teeth to get stained.

3. Orange juice.
   Orange juice is an important energy and vitamin C source, that is why a lot of families usually consume it in the morning, but the problem lays in that, since it is pretty sweet, we are not conscious of its’ acidity, this beverage causes teeth’s enamel to weaken and when we consume other foods, the pigments will stain our teeth, In order to prevent this we recommend you the use of a straw; but a reusable one. In this way, you pollute neither your teeth nor the world, since you will get orange juice straight up to your throat.

4. Vinegar
   There are lots of foods we consume daily that have heavy vinegar doses. We cannot avoid it in some foods such as Ketchup, dressings, mayonnaise, etc… its’ acidity level is enough to weaken and stain your teeth´s enamel; that is why we encourage you to wash your mouth every time you consume a vinegar-based food.

5. Soda
   Soda has been heavily criticized, we can just keep talking about the problems and virtually non-existing benefits it carries. We can summarize this by just telling you that this is one of the worst beverages available in the market; therefore, try to avoid its consumption as much as you can, limit it to low quantities in certain occasions.

6. Lemon
   Lemon and limes are so acid that they considerably weaken your enamel, damage, and stain your teeth. That is why we advise you that if you consume a product with considerable amounts of lemon in it (e.i. Lemonade, lemon ice cream, lemon pays, etc.) you brush your teeth 30 minutes after consuming it, so you do not do extra damage to your already sensitive teeth. Oh, and an important recommendation, never go to bed without brushing your teeth after consuming lemon-based foods and/or beverages.