Dead or dying nerves in the pulp can lead to a dead tooth. A dead tooth will also no longer have any blood flow to it. A dead nerve in a tooth is sometimes referred to as a necrotic pulp or a pulpless tooth. Once this happens, the tooth will eventually fall out by itself.
How do you know if your tooth pulp is exposed?
- Tooth sensitivity and pain, especially when you eat something that’s hot, cold or very sweet.
- A sudden and unexplainable, sharp pain in your mouth.
- In worse cases, infection in your mouth may also occur.
Can tooth pulp heal itself?
Unfortunately, the infected pulp of the tooth will not heal on its own and requires a root canal to properly be treated. Sometimes, patients may think a tooth infection has healed itself once they no longer feel pain in their tooth, but this just signals that the nerves inside of the tooth have died.
