Today, advanced technologies and procedures in dentistry have helped many people keep their teeth longer. Likewise, many people also expose their teeth to several years of break-inducing lifestyle and anxiety. Even though getting a tooth cracked is a common thing these days but it can be saved if taken care properly and on time.
A cracked tooth exhibits an assortment of signs and symptoms. Cracked teeth may be difficult to identify because the pain appears and disappears quickly, and cracks hardly ever come on x-rays. However, you may have a cracked tooth if:
- You feel a sharp pain in your teeth when chewing
- It hurts particularly when you bite down something
- It quickly fades away so you perhaps pay no attention to it
- You want to stay away from having certain foods
- You get pain while eating or drinking hot and cold food or drinks
- You chew just on one side of your mouth
As per Dr. Vinograd, who works with Brighton Dental Chipped Tooth Restoration, teeth may crack because of different factors that include chewing on hard things or foodstuff like nuts or hard toffee, falling as a blow to the face, getting your teeth ground and clenching, rough chewing pressure, pressure on a tooth, brittleness of tooth that has undergone an endodontic (root canal) procedure and the like.
Cracked teeth may hurt you as they generally affect the soft inner tissues of the teeth known as the pulp. Such soft tissue is full of blood vessels and nerves and when it is hurt, it results in pain and discomfort. For relieving the pain and saving a chipped tooth, the pulp has to be taken care softly.
You cannot completely prevent a tooth being cracked, however, there are a few things you can do to make your teeth at less risk to crack:
- Avoid chewing on hard foodstuff or hard object, for instance, ice, nuts, hard toffee, or un-popped popcorn kernel
- Avoid clenching or grinding your teeth.
- Wear a mouth-guard or a cover while playing contact games.
When you get your tooth cracked, the first step you should take is to see an endodontist. An endodontist refers to a dental specialist who diagnoses and treats oral and facial soreness. Such dental specialists focus on root canal treatment, as well as any cure management for the inner soft tissues of the teeth.
Your cracked tooth will be treated according to the type and severity of the break. The nature of cracked teeth can be identified in five common types. The first type is craze lines which are tiny cracks and do not require any action whereas its second type the cusp is treated using a crown or other restoration to avoid any fracture. The third type, a cracked tooth needs the root canal to eliminate the damage and save the tooth. The fourth type, the spilled tooth can not at all be saved whole and also needs a root canal to save a piece of the tooth. The last and fifth type of crack is vertical root fracture that needs endodontic surgery to save a piece of tooth or may also need the removal of the tooth.
