Can a brace that's too tight kill your front tooth? If not, what else can kill it?

Question

I have been wearing clear braces (like a really thin gumshield) for the past 6 months and every two weeks I get a new one fitted, which is gradually moving the teeth to their new positions. When the new one is fitted it is pretty tight and can be painful. The most recent one was extremely painful and after a few days I had an abcess above one of my front teeth. I went back to the dentist (a stand-in, my regular dentist was away) who told me something had cut off the blood supply to my tooth and it was dead. She would not confirm if it was caused by the brace. I am now faced with painful and expensive root canal work on the dead tooth and I am trying to establish who - if anyone - might be responsible for the tooth's untimely demise.

Answer 1

i would consult an attorney...it sounds like the dentist who killed your tooth owes you alot more than a root canal...thats your front tooth!!!!!
don't say anything else or sign anything until you have called an attorney...please

Answer 2

i am in the exact same situation as you. i was diagonosed with a dead tooth today, and my orthodontist told me that i need root canal treatment. i have traintrack appliance and i've been having really really bad toothache since few days ago, to the extent that i was unable to sleep at night. i know that it's not due to decay or trauma to the tooth, so i'm also very confused with how it occured in the 1st place!
i had never imagined that braces can cause such a thing (if it IS due to braces that is).
i did have a similar tooth ache on the same tooth several months ago, but the dentist didn't really say anything about it, so I just ignored it...Now it looks like i have to get root canal treatment done.

Answer 3

Yes just had 2 root canals and can confirm from my endodontist that it was my braces as a teen. My eye tooth died in my teens and created an abscess so large that after an episode of TMJ in my 30s I bit the tooth through the bone. Long story short braces are a COSMETIC procedure the majority of the time and not needed. Otherwise you can have 2 dead teeth like me because of your vain idiotic parents decisions when you were a child.

Answer 4

I very much doubt it was the braces. About the only thing that can cut off circulation to the root of a tooth is an infection, one that is internal. These sorts of infections are ordinarily caused by poor hygiene. Perhaps because the tighter braces were uncomfortable you did not do as good a job of cleaning your teeth as you needed too, and the inflammation from the braces left you wide open for such an infection to get in. Immaculate oral hygiene is essential when one is correcting one's teeth alignment.

Answer 5

The only way a tooth can die is if you hit it super hard or if you have been taking an excessive amount of strong antibiotics. So if you haven't done any of these things then it is the dentists fault and they should pay for this. You must have invisalign. I am currently wearing clear braces and I'm 34! YUK!!

Answer 6

This is a tricky question to answer without expert knowledge...I dont have that! What I would say to you is that you need to establish if the brace is the cause before you get a new one. Go to a dentist to get an independant opinion, you may need to pay for this. When that opinion is in, if it indicates negligence of the brace fitter seek a legal opinion in regard to sueing the dentist.

Answer 7

It's possible, but you did want the tooth moved, didn't you? Sometimes stuff happens that can't be forseen. The worse the original condition of the teeth, the more they're going to have to be moved to get them where they should be.

Answer 8

it could well have been the brace but equally it could have been a recent bang or bump on the front of the tooth that may have cause this

Answer 9

You are. Having orthodontia is an entirely elective procedure and no procedure is without potential complications. Your situation is unfortunate but it happens. I too had two teeth that were damaged during orthodontia and both had root canals with one requiring an apicoectomy.

Answer 10

My guess is that you signed a contract with the orthodontist, and there was probably fine print in there that said he/she is not responsible for stuff like that happening.