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My orthodontist had placed a palatal expander on my lower jaw on Aug 2011 without any braces. Just last month (Nov 2011), I finally had braces placed on my lower teeth with the expander on also. One week after I had braces placed on my lower teeth, I started developing sensitivity on a single tooth (first molar on my right) and not the normal sensitivity from braces. I would only have pain whenever I would drink cold water but not hot water. The pain would last about 30 seconds (although it felt like 10mins) and then slowly go away. I went to see my dentist (who is also my orthodontist) and he did take an x-ray, but nothing showed up; the nerve seemed fine. A week after, still having sensitivity to cold, I took out my expander to clean it. As I put it back in, the pain started up again and then suddenly I felt a pop sensation on that particular tooth; within 5 seconds that pain slowly disappeared and I haven’t had pain since. As I was checking my teeth in the mirror the next couple of days, I noticed that the molar that I had sensitivity on started to turn grey. As each day passed it seemed as if it was turning greyer. I went back to my dentist and told him about the pop sensation. He has never heard of anything like that and is not sure as to how that tooth changed color so quick. He tested the nerve and found it was ok but on the x-ray it showed that on the forward side of the tooth the nerve seemed to disappear midway then reappear. I am afraid that later on the tooth might die and would need a root canal. Is there any way for certain to test the tooth? And has anyone else had the same situation? FYI the expander fits over the tooth that had changed color.