Metal Mouth Message Board

Ok, just a bit of background information:

When I was young, I broke my two front teeth. The first time I was on a skateboard and skidded on my face, then second time I fell down the starts are landed on my face. One of my front teeth broke right up at the root, so it's essentially in two pieces - the bottom bit which makes up the majority, and a small portion of the tip which is still embedded in the bone. I had a root canal done on this tooth and it's still in there.

Anyway, fast forward to the present day: One of my upper canines has always been sensitive for as long as I can remember. It would react to the cold, but I never had a tooth ache because of it. My dentist recently said that it's a bit of a worry that the root part is sensitive when touched (basically I felt pain when cold hit the tooth, and the pain traveled all the way up to the root tip). He said it wasn't infected, but may be on it's way to dying. Even since I got my braces the pain has stopped. At first I thought maybe the tooth movement moved my tooth in a more comfortable position. But when I had some ice cream yesterday (I know, I'm not supposed to...), I realised that I didn't feel any sensation whatsoever. So when I got home I put an ice block on my tooth, and I didn't feel anything even after 3 minutes or so.

Is it possible that my tooth has now died because of the previous trauma, and the trauma caused by my braces just "pushed it over the edge"? Anybody else experience nerve damage as a result of their braces? Ahhh, my teeth woes never seem to end

yes this is totally possible.

Coincidentally, I was at my dentist today for a crown removal/replacement. She asked if my dead tooth was hit 20 years ago. When I said no, it was just small, she asked if the original root canal/crown was done after orthodontics. I said yes. She said sometimes ortho work can kill off an already weak tooth.