Never Take Your Healthy Teeth for Granted

When all of your teeth are yellow, this is often a sign that your teeth have become stained and that you have lost some of your enamel. However, if only one of your teeth is yellow, your tooth might be stained, but it may also be dying. If your tooth is dying, you will likely need a root canal to save it.

Get Tested for a Root Canal First

Root canal therapy is necessary when a portion of your tooth pulp has become diseased. When this occurs, you will experience several symptoms, including:

• Serious pain when you are eating
• Tooth sensitivity to heat or cold
• A small bump where your tooth hurts
• A darkening of the tooth

The best way to determine if you need a root canal is to see your dentist. Then, he or she can perform an X-ray and use other diagnostic tools to determine whether you need a root canal. After the X-ray, if your doctor discovers that your root pulp is diseased, a surgery will be necessary to remove the diseased root pulp. However, if you do not need a root canal, you have lucked out and you can instead visit a cosmetic dentist to have your tooth whitened.

Teeth Whitening

Fortunately, it is now possible to whiten a single tooth using a custom whitening tray. As long as the dentist does not overfill the tray with the whitening gel, the nearby teeth will not be whitened. Whitening only the yellowed tooth is important, because if the other teeth are whitened more than the yellowed tooth, the difference between the shades of white will be noticeable. 

Another approach is to have the individual tooth whitened with gel and a halogen light tip. This way, the exact portion of the tooth can be whitened to a point where it matches the rest of your teeth.

Getting a Single Veneer

Besides having your tooth whitened, you could get a single-tooth veneer. A single veneer for a tooth is one of the most challenging cosmetic dentist procedures, so you will want to make sure that you are working with a highly skilled cosmetic dentist. If the tooth is in the front, the veneer will need to carefully match the other tooth or the difference will be noticeable. Also, the veneer needs to be roughly the same shade as the other teeth. Then, it will be as if your tooth was never stained.

Contact a cosmetic dental services professional for more help.