If you are experiencing tooth pain or sensitivity after biting into hard food or being hit in the mouth, you may have a cracked tooth that needs to be treated. Of course, blunt force trauma isn’t the only way to crack a tooth as a filling failure can also cause cracks. Cracked teeth are surprisingly common among patients of all ages and, depending on the severity, are entirely treatable.
We specialize in saving cracked teeth and offer a variety of treatment options to treat cracks dependent on the cause, location, and depth of the tooth crack. During your initial consultation, we will determine what type of crack may have occurred as well as a treatment plan that works best for you.
Types of Cracked Teeth
The most common type of tooth crack is craze lines which are tiny cracks that only affect the outer enamel of the tooth. These small cracks occur over time, are only surface-level, and are merely a cosmetic issue and cause no pain. If the craze line in a tooth is above the gumline, it is easily treatable.
More severe cracks are those that extend into the root of the tooth. These cracks can reach the pulp of the tooth and are treated with a root canal procedure with a crown placement to prevent the crack from spreading or deepening. If a crack extends well below the gumline, it is no longer a treatable crack, and the tooth will most likely need to be extracted to prevent infection.
The last type of tooth crack we treat most frequently is a vertical root fracture. Root fractures are cracks that begin in the root of the tooth and go upwards. These are usually painless and don’t exhibit any symptoms. Thus, vertical root fractures are exposed when the surrounding gum or bone becomes infected. Some vertical root fractures can be treated with endodontic surgery while others may result in tooth extraction.
For more information on cracked teeth or to schedule an appointment, please don’t hesitate to contact us today at (423) 267-1853.
