Yes, it is possible to whiten a dead tooth, but the key to successful treatment is a targeted approach. A dead tooth whitens more slowly, which requires additional treatments. So, it’s likely that whitening all your teeth will only result in the dark tooth looking even more noticeable compared to the surrounding teeth.
Option 1: External Tooth Whitening
With Zoom! laser teeth whitening available at our Midtown NYC dental office, we can approach treatment in one of two ways. We can start by whitening just the dark tooth or whitening your entire smile. Either approach aims to see how the dead tooth responds to whitening and then take further steps as needed.
If the tooth doesn’t respond, it might not be a good candidate for external whitening, and we recommend internal tooth whitening.
Option 2: Internal Tooth Whitening
If you opt for internal whitening, our dentist will need to perform root canal therapy on the tooth. After the canals have been cleaned, we place a whitening agent and allow the process to take place from the inside out. It may require several whitening attempts to achieve the desired results; then, we will permanently seal the tooth.
Schedule an Appointment to Learn More
If you think you want to whiten a dead tooth, we recommend calling our Manhattan dental office to schedule an appointment. Dr. Philips will evaluate the situation and let you know if she thinks whitening or another option, like a dental veneer, would be more appropriate.
