What To Do When You Break A Tooth

As our bodies age, so do our teeth. Although our teeth are remarkably strong, they can chip or break just from an injury, eating, or having cavities. Teeth don’t just break, though. They can chip, break, or receive damage to the cusp of your tooth, causing major discomfort. Even if it’s a minor incident,, there are many options for you if you break a tooth. Make sure to visit your dentist and follow this guide to prevent pain and more injury!

How Teeth Can Break

One of the most uncomfortable feelings that a patient can experience is when they break a tooth. Whether it’s a baby or permanent tooth, a broken tooth can be expensive and painful to fix. While teeth are the hardest substance in our bodies, they can chip, crack, or break from a simple activity, like biting into an apple. A broken tooth can occur for a variety of reasons, such as being hit in the face with an object, biting down on something hard, falling, having cavities that weaken the tooth, and having old amalgam fillings that don’t support the remaining enamel of the tooth. While the pain will vary from person to person and which tooth was broken, the first indication that you have a broken tooth will be the sharp area around your tooth that your tongue feels. Minor fractures normally don’t cause much pain, but whenever a large piece breaks off of your tooth, it can be extremely painful and the nerve inside the tooth could be damaged. Extreme discomfort can especially occur if the dentin within the tooth is exposed to air and hot/cold drinks. Many people feel pain in their broken tooth mainly whenever they chew, as it puts pressure on the tooth. Pain from a cracked or broken tooth, though, can vary in degree and can come and go for quite some time. What you do whenever you break a tooth can have significant effects on what the process is to fix it and how the tooth heals. Knowing beforehand what to do for a broken tooth can spare you from expensive dental visits and save your tooth.

What You Can Do When A Tooth Breaks

One of the first reactions that we have whenever we break a tooth is to lose our calm and stress out. If you break or fracture your tooth, the first thing that you should do is rinse your mouth with warm water to keep the area clean. There isn’t a way to fix a broken tooth from home, but making sure your mouth is clean can keep it free from infection. If you have a broken tooth, see your dentist as quickly as possible. Your dentist will be able to determine whether your break was caused by a cavity and if there is any damage to the nerves. If there is a damaged nerve, this usually requires a root canal, so seeing your dentist as quickly as possible will help prevent any other serious damage. If you can find the broken tooth piece, wrap it in some wet gauze or a towel and bring it with you to the dentist. Until you get to the dentist office, press a piece of gauze on any bleeding areas for 10 minutes until the bleeding stops, or if it continues to bleed, try using a tea bag with pressure on the area. Continue to use a cold compress on your lip, mouth, or tooth to reduce the swelling, and take an over-the-counter pain reliever. If you can’t get into your dentist quickly, cover the broken part of your tooth with temporary dental cement to keep it from cutting your tongue or gums.

While a broken tooth is very obvious, a cracked tooth can appear deceivingly normal. Many times, the tooth looks fine but it only hurts whenever you eat or the temperature in your mouth changes, like when you drink something cold or hot. You will know whether you have a cracked tooth or not if it doesn’t hurt to bite down on the tooth, but it’s painful whenever you release the bite. If your tooth is constantly hurting you, it is possible that you have a damaged nerve or blood vessel, which is a serious warning sign for a cracked tooth. Just like a broken tooth, a cracked tooth will need to be repaired by your dentist, but doesn’t need to be fixed immediately, like a broken tooth should be.

What Your Dentist Does To Fix A Tooth

The rule of thumb for caring for your teeth is preventing problems by paying attention to your oral health and visiting your dentist at the first sign of a dental problem. There are several types of tooth fractures and breaks, and treatment depends on which type you have. For minor cracks, called “craze lines,” and chips, little treatment is needed as these only affect the outer white surface of the tooth, called enamel. Your dentist may lightly polish the area to smooth out any rough spots, but little else is needed. For a cracked tooth, cracks can sometimes be fixed with filling material but oftentimes your dentist will need to install a crown to prevent the crack from getting worse. If the nerve is damaged, you may need a root canal, as well. A vertical break starts in the middle of the tooth and extends up towards the chewing surface, causing pain due to inflammation or infection. Under these circumstances, the tooth will usually have to be removed. In the case that your tooth has crumbled or broken due to a cavity that has weakened it, your dentist will evaluate the tooth and determine how extensive the decay is/if the decay has reached the bone. For decay-induced breaks, these are normally removed, as well.

If you are suffering from any type of tooth break or crack, call Stonebrook Family Dental at (303) 872-7907 for an in-depth evaluation and treatment plan to restore your oral health and confidence!