If a piece of your tooth breaks off, you may notice sensitivity or even pain in the tooth, and, depending on the area of the fracture, there may be swelling around it, though sometimes teeth can fracture with no other symptoms. Teeth can crack because of habitual grinding or clenching, trauma or injury, tooth decay, or other factors, and sometimes, teeth crack simply because the enamel has worn down and thinned over time. Regardless of the reason for the crack, your dentist will find a way to treat it. If your dental fracture is minor, it’s probably okay to wait until your next dentist’s appointment to address it. In cases of more severe dental fracture, like those that interfere with everyday activity and cause debilitating pain, it’s best to see an emergency dentist as soon as you can. While you wait to see your dentist, in either case, there are ways to mitigate discomfort and keep the soft tissues in your mouth protected from the tooth’s rough edges, and there are also preventive measures that can help keep your teeth from cracking or breaking in the first place.
The teeth can fracture for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, a crack in your tooth can be very small and largely harmless, and other times, the fracture can lead to part of your tooth breaking or splitting off. Dental fractures happen most often in children who experience impact to their face while playing or in accidental falls, and in older people whose dental enamel is fragile due to aging and wear and tear, but dental fractures can happen to anyone. Common causes of dental fractures are biting down on hard foods, habits like chewing ice or non-food items, chronically grinding or clenching the teeth, large dental fillings or untreated tooth decay, and injury or trauma. The upper front teeth and the lower rear molars are the teeth that crack most often, for different reasons, and people can fracture one tooth or several, also depending on the cause of the fracture. Some fractures affect only the outer layer of protective dental enamel, while others go deeper and affect the inner layers of dentin and dental pulp. Your dentist will assess the depth and nature of your tooth fracture with a thorough clinical examination, including dental x-rays, before determining the best course of treatment.
Dental fractures are classified into five different categories. Cracked teeth contain vertical cracks that travel from the biting surface to the gums, sometimes extending beyond the gums and into the root of the tooth. Craze lines, or hairline cracks, are thin cracks that appear only on the outer layer of enamel and that don’t cause pain. When a crack forms around a dental filling, this is called a fractured cusp. A split tooth is cracked from the surface of the tooth to below the gum line, effectively splitting the tooth into two parts. Finally, a vertical root fracture begins below the gum line and travels to the biting surface of the tooth. Some of these types of fractures are asymptomatic, though all dental fractures pose the risk of increased infection if bacteria is allowed to enter the crack, and all dental fractures should be assessed by a dentist to determine the level of risk and plan and execute treatment. While you wait to see your dentist, if you’re experiencing pain or discomfort, try using over-the-counter medications and topically applied ice packs, applied to the outside of the face near the affected tooth, to mitigate pain. Rinsing the mouth with warm saltwater can also help manage discomfort and keep the oral cavity clean. Depending on the nature and severity of the fracture, your dentist will plan treatment that could include medical treatments like root canal or extraction or cosmetic treatments like bonding or contouring, or your dentist may determine that your dental fracture can be left alone if it causes no symptoms or poses no risks. It’s up to your dentist to determine this, however, so make sure to see your dentist if a piece of your tooth cracks or breaks off.