What is meant by Tooth Resorption (or) Dental Resorption?

Tooth Resorption refers to a condition in which a tooth loses its different parts including dentin, cementum, pulp chamber and even root. When a tooth’s root region is affected, it tends to tooth loss. Such Resorption occurs with a dental injury or irritation, which ignores the tooth as a self-defense mechanism.

Besides depriving a tooth, the resorption causes long-term damaging effects on your teeth, gums and even jaw bone.

When a tooth is injured, swelling takes place in its internal tissues like dentin, pulp and cementum. Hence the resorption begins from the tooth’s external surface and move towards the inside. So dentists categorize this condition into 2 types:

• Internal Tooth Resorption
• External Tooth Resorption

Let us discuss these and their possible treatments in detail.

Internal Tooth Resorption

Internal tooth resorption is an obsessive phenomenon that damage the tissues inside a tooth. It is often caused by swelling inside a tooth due to an untreated cavity. Mostly, the internal resorption is identified with loss of dentin.

Apart from traumatic injuries, internal resorption also occurs with bacteria build-up, excessive heat and chemical exposure to a tooth.

As this pathologic condition progresses inside a tooth, digital imaging systems like X-rays are essential for diagnosis because a tooth with internal resorption shows dark spots in X-rays that imply the missing tissues.

However, it warns the sufferer with signs like a reddish tinge in the infected tooth.

External Tooth Resorption

External Resorption is more common as it affects a tooth’s extrinsic surfaces. It can affect any part of the tooth’s outside surface. It is often caused by injuries that inflame the tissues on and around a tooth.

An externally resorped tooth is symptomatic and it exhibits chips or holes.

However, the deprivation in regions like root, cementum on the outside of the tooth requires X-rays to detect it. The roots of teeth with external resorption look flatter than a normal tooth.

How can you detect Dental Resorption?

Tooth resorption exhibits various atypical things to pinpoint it only when the condition worsens. The symptoms to detect the pathological condition include:

• Deep holes in the teeth
• Inflammation & Reddish spots in gums
• Tooth discoloration
• Chronic pain coming from inside of a tooth
• Pain in the tooth’s root region
• Intense pain in the tooth while biting

What are the possible after-effects of Tooth Resorption?

Tooth resorption is associated with a multitude of difficulties as follows:

• Teeth misalignment (Crooked or Crowded Teeth)
• Fragile teeth
• Roots recession
• Losing adjacent teeth
• Oral infections

How can I fix or cure Dental Resorption?

You should seek dental support once you encounter dental trauma or notice the resorption symptoms to address this problematic condition. The treatment options rely on the infected region or extent of the infection

• In the early stage of resorption when the affected region is small, minor gum surgery is made to remove the cells in the infected site.
• Otherwise, dentists perform Root Canal Treatment (RCT) to repair the tooth with dental resorption. This procedure involves removing the infected tissues inside the tooth.
• When the infection goes to a larger extent, tooth extraction is crucial to prevent the following complications.

Bottom line

Dental Resorption occurs in people of all age ranges. However, men and individuals who received extensive oral surgery have high chances of developing this condition. The best possible way to prevent resorption in your teeth is to safeguard your teeth from unexpected trauma. For instance, wear mouthguards while playing.

In general, tooth resorption is asymptomatic and the victims cannot observe any signs for years until the infection moved to the advanced stage.

We recommend that pay close attention to your teeth spacing, pain and discolorations because they are early signs. Curing tooth resorption is possible only if you catch its earliest signs and seek dental treatments on time.