Is Decay Making Your Tooth Turn Grey?

Colour changes in teeth can be cosmetic. For example, smoking can turn teeth yellow; staining can make them look patchy. Sometimes, however, you may notice a change of colour on an individual tooth which starts to look grey rather than its usual white.

This often happens after an accident that damages the tooth; however, if you haven't done anything to the tooth, then the grey colour may be a sign of decay.

How does decay affect the colour of teeth, and what can you do about it?

How Decay Turns Teeth Grey

While tooth decay often discolours parts of the teeth, this tends to occur on small areas. For example, decay often shows as white or dark spots on the teeth, or even as dimpled areas.

However, if you have more decay in the tooth, this can change the colour of the whole tooth. The bacteria in the decay attacks the tooth's inner pulp. If this pulp can't fight off the bacteria, it may start to lose its blood supply and die. If a tooth is dying, or even dead, then it may all turn a grey colour.

Typically, if decay is this widespread, you'll have other symptoms as well. A decaying tooth usually hurts, sometimes quite a lot; you may also develop an abscess in the tooth.

How to Treat Grey Teeth

If the decay is contained and the tooth's pulp isn't too badly affected, your dentist may be able to remove the decay and fill the tooth. This gets harder the more the decay has spread.

For example, if the whole of the tooth turns grey, the decay may be too advanced to be fixed by a simple filling. If the pulp all dies off then the tooth is effectively dead.

You can't just leave the tooth as it is. Apart from the colour issue, the tooth may continue to give you problems. It could turn more black than grey; you may still have some pain and be at risk of infection.

Your family dentist may suggest that you have the tooth root filled. This process basically removes the inside of the tooth and replaces its pulp and any infected material with a special filling. This treatment saves the tooth.

In more serious cases, your dentist may recommend that you have the tooth removed. If you get to this stage, your dentist will talk to you about ways to then replace the tooth later, such as implants, bridges or dentures.