Cracked and in Crisis: Identifying When a Broken Tooth Requires Immediate Attention

Tooth cracks can occur due to aging, teeth grinding, trauma, etc. You might experience any symptoms of a broken tooth or might notice pain, sensitivity, and swelling. Dentists have different methods to treat cracks in a tooth depending on its location and severity.

What Is a Broken Tooth?

A cracked tooth, also called a broken tooth, is when a crack appears on the tooth. Cracks are occasionally tiny and harmless or can also cause the tooth to break or split. Broken teeth are standard in children and older adults, although anyone can crack a tooth. If you doubt you have split a tooth, you must see a dentist near you immediately.

Understanding the Urgency of a Broken Tooth

Symptoms are not always present with cracked teeth. However, even if you experience any symptoms, they will likely be intermittent pain, especially when chewing, temperature sensitivity or eating sweetened foods, swelling around the tooth, and pain when biting. If you think your tooth is cracked but is not causing pain or sensitivity, it needs urgent care from the dental clinic near you at the earliest to improve your chances of conserving the tooth for use as best as possible. Unfortunately, if you experience bleeding from the tooth, you will require attention from an emergency dentistry service provider to specify the best course of action.

Types of Tooth Cracks

Dentists classify tooth cracks into five categories. They are:

• Cracked Tooth : a vertical crack extends from the cutting exterior of the tooth to the gum line or sometimes extends beneath the gum line to the tooth root.
• Craze Lines : Tiny and thin cracks appearing on the tooth enamel are called craze lines that are not painful.
• Fractured Cusp : cracks forming around dental fillings are called fractured cusps which are not painful.
• Split Tooth : a crack extending from the tooth’s surface to below the gum line is called a split tooth. The break splits the tooth into two.
• Vertical Root Fracture : Vertical root fractures are cracks starting below the gum line and extending to the tooth’s biting surface. Vertical root fractures do not exhibit any symptoms unless the tooth becomes infected.

What to Do When You Experience a Cracked Tooth

If you assume you have broken a tooth, you can place an ice pack outside your mouth to prevent swelling, rinse your mouth with warm salt water, clean your teeth, and take over-the-counter painkillers to alleviate discomfort and swelling. However, you must remember that receiving treatment for the cracked tooth to ensure it doesn’t become infected needs intensive therapy from Endodontists focusing on eradicating dental pulp and root infections if the tooth becomes infected.

If you notice bleeding from the cracked tooth, you must visit the emergency dentist in McArthur, CA, to get the tooth evaluated and ascertain the damage’s extent. The dentist can offer different treatment methods or recommend removing the tooth if the crack extends deep. Alternatively, they may direct you to receive endodontic therapy to help preserve your tooth.

The Importance of Timely Treatment for a Broken Tooth

Timely treatment is essential for dental injuries, whether cracks or other trauma, to ensure your mouth bacteria does not penetrate the fractures to the infected tooth from within.

When you seek treatment for a cracked tooth from the emergency dentist near you, they will likely recommend bonding the tooth with plastic resin to close the fracture, cosmetic contouring to round rough edges and polish the broken tooth to smooth it, and dental crowns to ensure they guard the tooth against further damage, root canals to remove the damaged pulp and prevent additional weakening of the tooth if the crack extends to the dental pulp. However, if your tooth structure is not severely damaged, the dentist will recommend covering the crack with a dental veneer bonded over the tooth’s front surface.

When you receive prompt treatment for a cracked tooth, it can last many years without causing other problems. Unfortunately, tooth cracks can occasionally get bigger or split even after receiving timely treatment. It can result in tooth loss later and may require replacement solutions for missing teeth.

If you confront a crisis with a cracked tooth, it is best that you get timely treatment from Fall River Valley Dentist to preserve your tooth. Untreated cracked teeth can cause infections that need intensive treatments or even extraction. Therefore arrange a meeting with the dental facility as soon at the earliest to repair your tooth.