Have you ever had to question “Why my crown fell off and my tooth is back?” or if you wonder why gum infection black at the base of tooth? The short answer is that the bacteria invaded your tooth over time, refused to go away, and made themselves a home on the natural tooth under the crown, and a roof for the house (tooth).
There are plenty of reasons for that to happen, the permanent crown itself is not the problem if the problem appears after a year or two. It is related to having false habits or injuries even.
Eventually, the bacteria that has become a severe enemy it will cause the crown to fall. A visit to your dentist is a solution for this complication. Your fallen crown will be examined, and the reason for the black tooth will be studied.
At the end of the day, your dentist will do his best to save the tooth from expiring, with professional care. In case of being too late to save the tooth, it might need to put the tooth into a coffin and extract it, RIP.
What could be the reason my crown fell off and my tooth is black?
Bacteria is a sneaky enemy of your teeth, the possibility for your tooth to be blackened is because of bacteria reaching your tooth structure through a not enough sealed dental crown or the gums.
There are other factors for the tooth to get damaged like:
- Reason 1: gum infection
- Reason 2: tooth decay
- Reason 3: necrotic tooth
- Reason 4: dentin stain
- Reason 5: gum recession
And to prevent all these reasons, you should have a constant hygiene routine, brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day, flossing, or water flossing. This alone is an investment for your longevity of teeth health whether it is a real tooth or crown. And if the decay is not fully gone, at least there would be damage control and prevent cavities.
Reason 1: gum infection
“Gum infection black at the base of tooth” is mentioned many times by the dentist’s patients. That is an issue that should be under the microscope because it is mainly because of poor oral hygiene, alongside other reasons like stress or sleepless nights, or poor choice of food diet and even stress.
The dark-colored gum between black and greyish color is not just visually unappealing but also:
- Pain in the gums
- Possible fever
- Bad breath
Reason 2: tooth decay
Getting dental crowns is a recommended option, but that doesn’t mean that there is a guarantee of not getting decay.
- If that sneaky bacteria sits underneath your dental crown, it will make itself home and multiply. Eventually feeding itself on your tooth and making the tooth turn darker in color.
- There is a rare case where you can get decay after installing dental crowns. And it is not a 100% cleaned tooth and leaving bits of decay left behind, and place the permanent crown on top of it.
Reason 3: necrotic tooth
The bacteria is like a snake. It can ambush you from within and suffocate the heart of the tooth and eventually make it stop functioning. It is mainly because of untreated decay; therefore the tooth is being dug deeper and deeper until it reaches the pulp. This means no more blood supply to the dead tooth and no circulation and one of the signs is witnessing a dark tooth, black or dark brown in color.
That leads to killing the tissues around the tooth as well like the gum that surrounds it. And the solution for such cases is to have your tooth extracted or perform a root canal cleaning.
Reason 4: dentin stains
Dentin stains are caused by many reasons, not necessarily having bad oral hygiene but that also includes:
- Lifestyle and sugary choices: Sweet intakes whether solids or liquids can affect drastically your tooth health. Stains can develop degradedly and it can be caused by plaque.
- No routine in oral hygiene: Ignorance in cleaning your teeth is the main reason for stains. It could be an external stain but eventually, the bacteria will dig into the tooth.
- Injuries: A punch in the face or an accident like a car incident, mainly a sudden shake might affect the tooth from within. That leaves an internal stain.
In other words, intrinsic tooth stain means that the stain is from within. This can’t be simply polished away like extrinsic stains (external stains).
Ignorance in oral hygiene means both overuse and lack of use in brushing teeth or mouthwash. Overdoing it can cause the enamel to wear away from the tooth little by little; that makes the tooth more sensitive and higher chance to get affected and stained.
Injuries that leave internal tooth stains need dental treatment and if it cannot be saved, it might need a tooth extraction and replaced with an implant.
Reason 5: gum recession
Gum recession is when your tooth root is exposed due to a lack of gum tissue and it can be caused by:
- Aggressive teeth brushing: Brushing teeth roughly continuously day after day, it will lead your gums to reduce and recede, and even affect the enamel negatively as they will be partially washed away.
- Smoking: Nicotine intake takes various roads that lead to negativities by itself. It smokes away the gum layers exposing the roots of the tooth, and also it causes discoloration of the gums around the teeth.
- Genetics: Gum recession goes through family roots as well, even if you have no diseases or bad oral health.
Treatments for those issues are possible. People may need to use antibiotics and special rinses for killing bacteria or they may need to undergo surgeries.
The black tooth has a weird smell
The journey of bacteria goes like this; it finds its way to a place to sit in the mouth, preferably on the tooth, if it stays there for a while it will turn to a sticky plaque on the tooth/set of teeth and it is not visible always. Then, it digs its way deep into the tooth causing decay. It is the source of the weird unpleasant odor.
In another scenario, the bacteria will sit underneath the gum near the tooth roots and turn into a plaque, which causes to have gum pockets, which alone can also be a weird smell that would disturb both you and the person you’re talking with. That can be prevented or removed by a simple visit to the dentist to perform scaling and root planing, in other words, professional cleaning.
My crown fell out no tooth left
If the greedy bacteria has taken over your tooth and eaten all your natural teeth away, it will cause the crown to be loose and loosen more till it collapses and the bacteria has won.
If you have no tooth left at all underneath your crown then it’s impossible to place a crown on an empty area, even at the dentist’s office. Your dentist must come up with another solution to save up your smile. Even if there was a structure of tooth left but still damaged a bit because of cavities, crowns are not an option anymore.
In order for your crown to be placed back, it needs a surface and enough amount of tooth. That means a healthy tooth that consists of a well-covered dentin with enamel to protect the pulp.
In conclusion, you will end up with different options that your dentist might suggest according to this scenario, it’s either dental bridges or implants.
My crown fell off and my tooth is black and I don’t know what to do
If you have your dental crown fallen out, you need to pay extra attention to staying hygienic and stay away from a chewy tough food diet. Rinse with warm salty water to kill as much bacteria as possible, a cup of water with one teaspoon of salt. Despite the color of your teeth, you should address your situation with your dentist and have an appointment ASAP.
If it’s going to take a couple of days for your appointment with the dentist for any reason, stay couscous not to eat tough chewy food. Stick to creamy food and definitely stay away from sugary drinks or snacks as much as possible. In case you rinse, use alcohol-free mouthwash, and stay away from drinking it either, it will damage your gums and teeth and worsen your situation degradedly.
Reference:
Kakkar P, John GP, Sharma G. Biologic Foundation Restoration: A Natural Post And Core For Management. J Indian Prosthodont Soc. 2014 Dec;14(Suppl 1):268-72. doi: 10.1007/s13191-013-0332-0. Epub 2013 Nov 2. PMID: 26199529; PMCID: PMC4501993.
