It does not matter what actually causes a tooth to die, a patient usually feels little to no pain and will show no signs of an infection. As the nerve of the tooth dies, toxins are released from the necrotic tissue. Slow bone destruction is processed in the chronic state and an actual holding area or void will start to fill with material. Toxins will then be picked up and carried throughout the body through the blood stream resulting in a slow death.
Most patients won't know right away that damage done to a tooth will result in it's death. Slowly the tooth will appear darker and a
dental x-ray will show a void or a dead pulp center chamber in the tooth. Once this happens, the tooth is considered '
Abscessed'. Once a tooth with an abscess is removed you will usually find a cyst as the body created to try and contain the infection.
The picture on the right shows a tooth abscess and infected bulp. The tooth decay began in the enamel of the tooth and spread to the pulp.
In an
acute situation, no void or holding area exists large enough to accommodate the large quantity of purulent matter.
