A cracked tooth can happen to anyone, whether it’s due to a sports injury or eating hard food like nuts or ice. Thanks to contemporary cosmetic dentistry, repairing a broken tooth and restoring your natural smile has never been easier.
Your dentist can let you know how to fix a cracked tooth and restore its natural function by using one of these dental procedures, such as dental bonding, dental crowns, root canal therapy, and tooth extraction.
What Causes Cracked Teeth?
Many factors can cause a tooth to break, including uneven chewing pressure and too much stress on a tooth. A cracked tooth occurs when tooth structure is lost through wear, fillings, or other repairs.
Having root canal therapy causes the teeth to become weak and result in cracked teeth.
A broken tooth can cause sharp discomfort when you bite, make you avoid particular foods, or cause you to eat on the other side of your mouth. If you ignore a severely cracked tooth, you may end up with serious oral issues such as a split tooth, vertical root fracture, or tooth infection that may require root canal therapy or tooth extraction.
Your dentist can examine and assess your teeth to determine if you are experiencing discomfort or sensitivity.
Types of Tooth Cracks
Your dentist examines your teeth to see what kind of cracked tooth you have. The type, degree, and location of the cracked tooth can help determine the appropriate dental procedure you need to fix your cracked tooth.
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Craze lines
Craze lines are microscopic, hairline fractures that appear in the tooth enamel. While mostly harmless, they can cause oral health problems if they worsen and extend into the tooth dentin.
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Fractured cusp
Whenever a tooth’s chewing surface breaks off, this results in a fractured cusp. The crack may extend to the gumline or lower, although it rarely damages the pulp’s nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissue.
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Extensive cracks in the gumline
A vertically cracked tooth may extend beneath the gum line that is the chewing surface down to the root. Root canal therapy and dental crowns are necessary to repair the damage from these extensive cracks. Tooth extractions may also be necessary.
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Split tooth
If there is a crack from the tooth’s surface to the root, it results in a split tooth. The entire tooth may not be saved with a split tooth, but the dentist can save a part of it.
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Vertical root fracture
This crack starts below the gum line and goes upward to the chewing surface. Discomfort and other symptoms may be minimal unless the tooth becomes infected. The broken tooth may need to undergo a tooth extraction.
How to Fix a Cracked Tooth: Dental Bonding
Dental bonding uses a composite resin to fill cracks and strengthen the tooth’s structure. Bonding is primarily used to repair minor chips that do not extend into the dentin.
During the dental bonding procedure, your dentist applies a chemical roughening agent to the area around and inside the chip. This helps the composite to adhere correctly to your tooth. They then place a thin layer of tooth-coloured resin in the crack and expose it to a curing light to harden. They continue to layer and cure the composite until they have filled the cracked tooth.
How to Fix a Cracked Tooth: Dental Crowns
If you have a moderate-to-large crack in your tooth that affects the tooth’s structural integrity, your dentist may prescribe dental crowns. Dental crowns are tooth-coloured caps custom-made to fit over the entire surface of your damaged tooth. The dental crown provides stability and structure, allowing you to bite and speak without discomfort.
Before your dentist can apply the dental crown, they need to prepare the affected tooth. They use a drill handpiece to shave the tooth’s enamel at an angle until it is a conical shape to accommodate the dental crown.
At No Gaps Dental, we offer several types of dental crowns, depending on the location of your cracked tooth. For conventional dental crowns, your dentist takes digital images of your prepared tooth and sends them to a lab to fabricate the tooth. They may fit you with a temporary dental crown until your permanent dental crown can be fitted at a second appointment.
We also offer same-day CEREC dental crowns. CEREC dental crowns are milled from a single block of ceramic for optimal durability. Once your tooth is prepared, your dentist uses CAD/CAM technology to scan your mouth and enter the data into the CEREC software system. The CEREC machine crafts your dental crown onsite, and the dentist cements it in place in the same session.
How to Fix a Cracked Tooth: Root Canal Therapy
In cases where the crack extends to the pulp of the tooth, the cracked tooth can be treated with a root canal and a dental crown. Root canal therapy aims to eliminate the infection in the pulp of the tooth and protect the tooth from further bacterial invasion in future.
Root canal appointments are similar to receiving a dental filling and result in the dentist saving your tooth rather than extracting it.
During the root canal, your dentist removes the infected pulp, cleaning and sealing the inside of the tooth. Your tooth can survive without the pulp but may require structural reinforcement in the form of dental crowns.
How to Fix a Cracked Tooth: Tooth Extraction
If the crack extends below the gum line, the dentist may not save the tooth, and the only option is extraction. After numbing the area with a local anaesthetic, the dentist will use an extractor to loosen the damaged tooth in the socket, then use forceps to extract the tooth.
At your initial consultation, your dentist may prescribe an extraction followed by a dental implant procedure. A dental implant consists of a metal post, a connector, and a dental crown. These components act as a natural tooth, allowing you to eat and speak normally.
See Your Dentist Immediately if You Suspect a Cracked Tooth
If you delay dental treatment of a cracked tooth, the crack may worsen and extend below the gum line, resulting in losing your tooth. That’s why it’s critical to book an appointment with your dentist and ask how to fix a cracked tooth to avoid an extraction.
At No Gaps Dental, we offer comprehensive dental care across 15 locations in New South Wales. Book an appointment online or call us on (02) 8806 0227 today to see a dental professional about your broken tooth or a dental crown.
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.