FOR some people life had been trundling along just fine until their teeth decided to kiss a curb or a wayward ball smacked right bang central into their choppers.
These sorts of impacts can cause a tooth to give up the ghost, turn black and die, leaving you feeling like the whole world is staring at your dark front tooth - aka Nanny McPhee Syndrome.
Sometimes a tooth turns dark straight away after being knocked but it can discolour very slowly over decades. The colour change is due to the blood vessel inside the tooth disintegrating; literally, there's a bruise inside the tooth which when it breaks down, the colours of the bruise seep through the enamel changing its colour.
When I started dentistry over 20 years ago, it was one of the toughest challenges to correct a single dark tooth and today it is still difficult, although techniques and the materials at our disposal have improved immensely.
Some people aren't bothered that a tooth has discoloured but for others, it is a source of embarrassment which they try all manner of tricks to hide - some people don't smile fully or opt to cover their mouth with a hand while others even resort to sticking chewing gum in front of the tooth to conceal it.
The better solution is to try bleaching the tooth first. There are different ways to bleach a dark tooth, and these tend to be really effective.
However, while whitening may help improve the situation it may not be enough to lighten it sufficiently so that it blends into the smile flawlessly.
When a tooth darkens, often the root of the tooth goes black too and this can shine through the gum turning the gum black, which makes the tooth more noticeable.
In this situation it may be appropriate to place a special gum graft which will help to mask the dark shine through giving a more natural appearance to the gum.
If bleaching is not enough then your dentist can place a veneer or crown that wraps around the tooth to correct the colour. With the new porcelains, artistic lab technicians can conquer the single dark tooth problem to restore your laughing gear to its original glory.
