Cracked Tooth? May not be as bad as you think!
Cracked Teeth is exactly as it sounds- a crack in your tooth or maybe even fracture resulting in division of your teeth into two or more pieces.
Causes- This can happen due to a number of reasons. Maybe you bit down on something very hard or bit at an angle resulting in a crack. Perhaps you were involved in a sport related incident or you were hit on the mouth. As we spoke about bruxing in our last post- maybe you were clenching or grinding your teeth and the sheer force could’ve caused your tooth to crack. If you have a deep bite then you are at a higher risk of cracked teeth than someone without a deep bite.
Signs that you may have a cracked tooth- Since cracks are difficult to spot, you may have certain symptoms before you actually see them.
You may experience moderate to severe sensitivity to temperature changes- hot or cold food as well as liquids. This means that they are seeping into the crack and hence the tooth reacts.
Feeling discomfort and even pain when you bite down on something hard- this may be a sharp pain which may or may not subside immediately.
Sometimes however you may get relief on biting down and the pain starts when the opposing teeth are not in contact/ in occlusion.
A loose tooth- since a crack over time can cause bone loss next to the tooth.
Gum tissue around/ next to the tooth which shows signs of swelling.
Appearance of sudden pain but not being able to pinpoint the source of the pain
Diagnosing a cracked tooth- Finding cracks is very difficult as usually you cannot see them unless there is an obvious break in the tooth. In diagnosing such conditions- X-rays will not be helpful because they are two dimensional. Dental dyes can sometimes be used to check for cracks under magnification- this will help us in confirming a crack but we will not be able to judge the depth of such a crack. The best and in our opinion- the only sure fire way to diagnose a crack and plan on the treatment is to get a CBCT- this is a 3 dimensional Xray which gives us all the details needed including the depth, location of the crack.
Treatment of such cracks-
Craze lines- these are like ‘hairline’ fractures. They are ‘superficial’ fractures that don’t go deeper than your enamel. In such cases you may not need any treatment other than buffing the enamel, restoring the void and keeping the tooth under observation
Moderate cracks- these involves the dentine of your teeth resulting in sensitivity and discomfort. Treatment of such cracks depends on the proximity of the crack to your nerve as well as your symptoms.
Deep cracks- these involves your nerve and the only way to save such a tooth is a root canal treatment followed by a crown for additional protection.
Sometimes the crack maybe so deep that it can actually split the tooth into two. Sadly in such situations, retaining such a tooth will do more damage than good. We advise removal of the tooth followed by replacement with a dental implant to get a more predictable outcome.
If you suspect that you have a cracked tooth, call/ visit Summit Dental Clinic to meet our specialists.