Cracked/Fractured Teeth

Healthy, natural teeth are the most resilient parts of your body, but unfortunately, they’re not indestructible. When teeth crack or become fractured, the damage will not repair itself, and as you continue to bite and chew, the pressure can cause the damage to grow worse. As a crack progresses, it can further compromise the strength and integrity of your tooth, inhibiting your ability to bite and chew properly as well as causing increasingly more severe tooth pain. Fortunately, cracked and fractured teeth can commonly be repaired and protected with an appropriate restorative dentistry treatment, such as a lifelike dental crown that fits seamlessly over your damaged tooth.

How Teeth Crack or Fracture

Your teeth are made to withstand the intense pressures of biting and chewing without suffering extensive wear or becoming damaged. However, when exposed to extreme pressure, or when traumatized by accidental injury, a tooth’s structure may crack under the pressure. You can reduce your risks of tooth damage by keeping your teeth clean and healthy with regular preventative dental care, and by wearing custom mouthguards if you engage in contact or extreme sports. Nevertheless, good dental care and preventative measures are not always a guarantee against cracked or fractured teeth, though you can recover easily with the right restorative treatment.

Treatment Options

Restoring a cracked or fractured tooth depends on the nature and severity of your tooth’s damage, which your dentist will carefully examine before recommending treatment. For instance, if the crack is severe enough to expose the sensitive pulp tissues at the center of the tooth, then you may require root canal treatment to eliminate the risk of internal tooth infection. After root canal treatment, your dentist can then place a lifelike dental crown over the tooth to prevent it from suffering further damage and to restore the tooth’s ability to function properly.