I had an accident several years ago that caused one of my teeth to be further back than the others. It is also a little darker than the rest of the teeth. The difference in color started to bother me so I went to my dentist to ask about a fix for it. He suggested I use teeth whitening with Crest Whitestrips. Everything was okay for the first week. Since then, the damaged tooth started to ache. Then, it grew more severe and was sensitive to both hot and cold. I went to my dentist again and he said that the tooth needs a root canal treatment. Do you think that the Crest Whitestrips caused this? Should my dentist have warned me against this?
Kevin
Dear Kevin,
I want to start with your dentist’s suggestion to whiten your teeth in order to fix this darkening. I’m afraid this was not the right solution. First, teeth whitening will whiten your teeth evenly. This means the darker tooth will STILL be darker than the other teeth. Plus, Crest Whitestrips, while they do work, are significantly weaker than professional teeth whitening. It will take several boxes to get a whiter color you would easily recognize.
As to the sensitivity and need for a root canal treatment, it would be unusual for this to be the result of teeth whitening. There have been a few cases where this has happened but it was to a tooth that was already damaged and had some exposure to the dentin. This is only the second time I have heard of something so weak as Crest Whitestrips causing an issue. I can’t say definitively that this was the cause of you needing a root canal treatment. However, if there was already a weak spot, this could have contributed to it.
To truly get this tooth fixed, you will need to see a cosmetic dentist after you have your root canal treatment done. If you ever decide to truly get your teeth whitened, make sure you do it through a dentist so they can give you whitening trays that will protect your gums.
This blog is brought to you by Parma Dentist Dr. Rebecca Gecovich.