You may have a very pretty dental crown (not in these pictures), but the dark edge is a dead give-away that this tooth is not your own.
Not only is this annoying, but nowadays it is not even necessary. So what causes these edges?
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First we need to find out whether this discoloration is caused by the tooth, or the crown!
Sometimes it is the root which is discolored and shows black through the gums.
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A purely ceramic crown will not do the trick in this case!
Black, discolored roots result from poor root treatment. If bacteria remain in the root canal after treatment, and if blood flows into the root canal during treatment, then the iron contained in the blood’s pigment (haemoglobin) turns into black haemosiderine.
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This does not necessarily result in a dark edge, but if you happen to have gums that are very thin and soft, then the dark root may show through. The picture on the left shows this. Crowns will not help to cover this up, only renewed treatment followed by internal bleaching.
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What is easier to fix is if only the edge of the crown is discolored. If the tooth was cut wrong, and a metal-ceramic crown applied, then the edge of the crown may end in metal. In this case the old crown needs to be removed, and the tooth stump prepared for a new – this time purely ceramic – crown.
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More on the topic of dental crowns here!
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