Broken teeth

by Reader, answer by the Dentist

Broken teeth is a problem that may or may not cause pain. Nevertheless, it is wise to let the dentist have a look at the teeth involved, since teeth that has lost parts will be more sucseptible to infections and pain later on. One of the readers have experienced a broken tooth and wonders what to do with it:


I noticed a ridge on the inside of the middle tooth on my lower jaw, but the tooth still felt pretty sturdy so i didn't give it much thought. Earlier something hard I was eating caught on that ridge and broke off part of the bottom backing on one side of the back of the tooth. The tooth still feels sturdy and it doesent hurt, nor is it bleeding - but the missing section is worrying me. What would need to be done to the tooth in that case?

Broken teeth is quite common with teeth having old amalgamam fillings. As time passes, liquid entering the filling may cause the amalgamam material to expand and make little cracks in the tooth. At some point the tooth can brake or have a deep crack in it. A tooth can also crack or brake if you eat something very hard (e.g. a totally unexpected little stone in fruit or vegetables) or if you bite the teeth hard together during e.g. sports. This will not always cause pain, but at some point bacteria will enter the crack and cause an inflammation and infection in the tooth. If this happens the tooth may need a root canal or even worse, be extracted. The best thing is to do something with the cracked tooth before it gets to this level! The dentist can fill the crack with a bonded material, and the prognosis for this tooth will be far better than if nothing is done.

Good luck with the broken teeth!