My tooth has turned grey brown & is clearly rotting

by Laurel
(Atlanta)

Hi.
I am 31 years old and have had a baby molar my whole life. It had a cavity that was filled in many years ago and the filling fell out a year ago. Over the past year or so, my tooth has turned grey brown & is clearly rotting/rotten. It is now loose, has just started to annoy me the last few weeks.

Due to my husband's new job, dental insurance does not kick in for another 80 days. That said, due to him losing a job a year & a half ago & recently having a baby, & just now trying to get back on our feet, we do not have money to pay for extractions & bridges along with crowns.

A dentist I visited 6 months ago told me I would need these during a consultation. The tooth is clearly dead now & I want to pull it so bad as it is loose & annoying me. Should I pull it? What should I do? I never know when to trust whether a someone is trying to pull the wool over my eyes or not for profit.

Comments for
My tooth has turned grey brown & is clearly rotting

Click here to add your own comments

Dying Tooth NEW
by: Sharon B., RDH

Hi Laurel,

You are at the age now where if a baby tooth is still present, it is most likely about to fall out. Sometimes people have a missing adult tooth and the baby teeth stay there several years, until you reach about 30 years of age. Those teeth just weren't made to last any longer, so the root naturally resorbs and begins to try to exfoliate itself (fall out).

If you have healthy teeth on either side of it I would be very hesitant to put a bridge in, as it crowns those adjacent virgin teeth. My first option would be to place an implant in the area of the missing tooth to help function as a natural tooth, maintain the space between the teeth (keep them from shifting together an affecting the rest of the mouth) and not having to crown 2 teeth with nothing wrong with them.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to General Dental Health Q And A