There’s a common diagnosis that comes up in our office that not a lot of patients are familiar with. That is tooth resorption. This is something that we see often but is not a term that is widely known by patients. Given the number of patients we treat for this, I thought it would be prudent to answer some frequently asked questions.
What is tooth resorption?
Resorption is a chronic inflammatory condition where the cells in your mouth start to reject and destroy the tooth as a self-defense mechanism. This is typically caused by a dental trauma. Following the trauma, the tissue surrounding the tooth triggers the inflammatory process.
There are two kinds of resorption – internal resorption and external resorption.
- Internal resorption starts inside the tooth where the nerve lives and works its way out.
- External resorption starts at the border of the tooth’s root structure on the outside of the tooth and works its way in.
Tooth Resorption Causes
The most common cause of tooth resorption is dental trauma, or a dental concussion. This could be something like falling and hitting your tooth or getting hit with a softball. There are also more extensive dental injuries that can cause resorption. A dental avulsion, or complete tooth loss, can cause resorption. As can a dental intrusion or extrusion, where the tooth moves slightly in the socket. Less common causes include cavities and periodontal disease.
For more practical scenarios and how you should respond, click here to watch our vlog on this topic.
How does a dentist diagnose tooth resorption?
Resorption is diagnosed via x-ray. Typically, it will look like a dark area within the root canal or at the root of the tooth. This looks different than a cavity and is not typically located in the same areas as a cavity. Resorption is often asymptomatic, and the patient doesn’t know it’s there. Other times, there is some tenderness and pain, and the patient believes they have a cavity.
Tooth Resorption Treatment
Patients often ask if a tooth with resorption be fixed. The answer to this question is a bit more nuanced. Yes, a tooth with resorption can be fixed – sometimes. It depends on how severe the trauma was, when it happened, how long the resorptive tissue has been there (and where) and the overall condition of the tooth. Internal resorption is typically treated with a root canal to clean out the infected tissue. External resorption is more difficult to treat because it’s less predictable. There is the outside border of the tooth that needs to be treated, which is challenging. In these instances, a crown or implant is sometimes needed.
See Dr. Saylor for a Free Consultation
Hopefully, this blog helped shed some light on dental resorption. My goal is always to educate my patients, so they have a better understand of the diagnoses they hear in our office.
If you’ve recently been diagnosed with dental resorption, or experienced dental trauma, please call our office at (813) 689-4226 to make a dentist appointment.
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