Q: My 9 years old son fell down and broke one of his front teeth into half and the second tooth got chipped. On consulting a dentist I was advised that the chipped tooth required root canal treatment and the other would be repaired. What is root canal treatment? Is the dentist correct and is it possible that the tooth can be grown back? I have heard that a tooth can be screwed on which grows with the bone. Is this true?

A:The dentist has advised you rightly. The tooth half broken is most likely become non-vital (dead) so RCT is the only way it can be saved. It is mandatory to preserve natural teeth. Once extracted, one can treat missing teeth with screw type titanium implants but in your child's case reservation of natural teeth is most important.