Why is My Tooth Numb?

If you notice that your tooth has gone numb, you need to contact your dentist right away. Numbness in a tooth, or the surrounding gums, is often a sign that your tooth is dying. This should be taken seriously, and should not be dealt with later. The sooner we can look at the numb tooth at Toomin & Bieber Aesthetic Comprehensive Dentistry, the more likely you are to be able to save the tooth from death.

Causes of Tooth Death

Two things typically cause your tooth to die. It could be trauma where there was an injury to the blood flow, nerves, or root of the tooth. If any of these were compromised, it could lead to the tooth dying, leaving you with a non-vital tooth.

The other cause is tooth decay. Once a tooth decays badly enough, it will die, and often get infected. This infection can spread to the surrounding gums, teeth, and bone.

It is important that you get in to see Lawrence Toomin, DDS or Mark Bieber, DDS as soon as possible in order to treat your tooth properly.

Treating a Dead Tooth

You have two options for treating a dead tooth.

You can have the tooth cleaned out by a root canal, leaving you with a filled tooth that is able to be saved and still used. Or you can have the tooth extracted and another tooth put in its place by means of a bridge or dental implant. Leaving the space open will cause dental shifting, and could lead to bone loss in the jaw.

If you happen to notice that the feeling in one of your teeth is gone, make sure you contact our office right away. We need as much time as possible in order to try and save your tooth from certain death.