Fractured And Broken Teeth
Nothing is worse than biting into ice cream or another delicacy only to feel something unexpectedly hard in your mouth. That sudden crunch can mean you have fractured or broken a tooth.
Although tooth enamel is the hardest substance in your body, trauma, like a fall, a blow during contact sports, or an accident, can still cause cracks or chips. Minor fractures often go unnoticed and are pain-free, but severe breaks can bring sharp discomfort. People of all ages—from playful children to dining adults—are at risk.
If your tooth cracks or breaks, seek dental care immediately to prevent further damage or infection. At Calabasas Smiles Advanced Dentistry in Calabasas, California, our highly qualified team specializes in diagnosing and treating fractured and broken teeth using state-of-the-art techniques and personalized care.
Anatomy of a Tooth and Areas Susceptible to Fractures
A tooth comprises two main sections:
- The crown above the gums
- The root below the gum line
Also, each tooth has three fundamental layers.
- Enamel–The outer layer of a tooth is enamel, which acts as a protective shield for its inner structures.
- Dentin–Dentin is the second layer. It lies beneath the enamel and is softer than enamel but harder than pulp.
- Pulp–The pulp constitutes the tooth structure’s third section and innermost layer. The pulp contains both blood vessels and nerves. Your tooth will start hurting when the pulp becomes exposed to external elements.
A tooth fracture occurs either at the crown or root sections. Crown fractures are easy to spot since you can see or feel the crack with your tongue. Diagnosing fractures near the root is more challenging because the damage is concealed beneath the gums.
Your dentist’s treatment depends on the extent and position of your tooth fracture. Treating minor fractures promptly improves the odds of a full recovery. Your dentist will suggest the most suitable treatment regardless of how serious the fracture is.
Teeth at Higher Risk for Fractures
All teeth can break or fracture under the right conditions. The position of the upper front teeth makes them more susceptible to breaking incidents. A single tooth usually gets cracked or broken during such incidents. Severe trauma can cause multiple teeth to fracture at once. Individuals who participate in boxing are at risk of fracturing their lower molars. Use a custom-fitted mouthguard during sports and nighttime teeth grinding to protect fragile enamel, prevent fractures, and minimize dental costs. Also, teeth become more vulnerable to breaking when they contain cavities.
Types Of Tooth Fractures
Tooth fractures can be categorized into five distinct types, namely:
Cracked Tooth
A cracked tooth contains a fracture that extends from the biting surface to the gum level. A severe crack will extend through the entire tooth structure to its root. The dentist will perform tooth extraction when such conditions exist.
In addition to placing a crown, the dentist may perform a root canal to treat underlying issues. The tooth can remain protected from further harm by the placement of a crown.
Craze Lines
The appearance of hair-like surface cracks on teeth defines the condition known as craze lines. These surface cracks exist only in the enamel layer and do not cause any discomfort to patients. These shallow defects do not need any intensive dental treatment. Your dentist can reduce minor cracks by lightly smoothing your enamel surface.
Fractured Cusps
A fractured cusp occurs when the chewing surface of a tooth breaks, often around an existing filling. Multiple elements trigger the failure of dental fillings. Primary causes include tooth trauma, faulty fillings, and structural weaknesses in the tooth. Most fractured cusps cause minimal pain to the patient.
Split Tooth
A split results from a major injury that separates your tooth into two sections. What starts as a small crack can worsen over time and develop into a full split. The fracture can extend deep into the tooth’s root from the chewing surface. The fracture may extend into the tooth’s root. The extensive nature of the split may require your dentist to perform an extraction of the tooth.
Vertical Tooth Fracture
Unlike other fractures, a vertical root fracture descends from the tooth root base towards the biting surface. The early stages of vertical tooth fracture remain undetectable because the fracture starts inside your tooth, where it cannot be seen.
The crack remains invisible until the surrounding tissue develops inflammation or infection. The resulting inflammation or infection can lead to significant pain. The dental professional will usually need to remove the tooth that has become affected.
Break Caused By Decay Or Cavities
The inside-out destruction of a cavity creates tooth weakness that leads to potential breakage or fracture. The extent of damage will determine the treatment selection from your dentist. The dentist will perform a tooth extraction if the cavity reaches severe levels. The dentist will choose a dental filling for treatment when the damage to the tooth remains moderate.
Severe Breaks
A severe break represents the worst possible condition among all broken teeth. A severe break penetrates deeply into the tooth to reveal your nerve endings. Pain will usually accompany this situation. The tooth might also bleed. An extraction of your tooth may become necessary, according to the dentist’s evaluation. The dentist will test alternative treatment options before deciding on extraction.
The dentist will choose to perform a root canal if they want to preserve the affected tooth. The dentist performs root canal treatment by removing the visible nerve during this procedure. After restoration work, your dentist returns the repaired tooth with a crown. With a crown in place, you can eat regularly without encountering any difficulties.
Symptoms and Causes of A Broken Or Fractured Tooth
A minor tooth fracture can exist without noticeable symptoms since the damage level remains low. The symptoms will start to appear when a severe fracture occurs. Severe fractures often cause sharp pain when you chew or consume hot, cold, or sweet foods and drinks.
Hot and cold drinks can make your broken or fractured tooth sensitive to the touch. A fractured tooth can develop sensitivity to both sweet food and liquid consumption. Swelling will develop in the area surrounding the tooth that needs attention. The tooth will start to ache when the fracture becomes severe.
Understanding the Pain Mechanism
Your broken or fractured teeth may be completely painless or cause significant discomfort. You can detect tooth fractures through tongue examination without experiencing any pain. Most small fractures in teeth do not produce pain symptoms. The situation differs when the damage to the tooth becomes severe. The pain during chewing occurs because you use extra force against the damaged tooth.
Causes Of Fractured And Broken Teeth
The strength of enamel is exceeded by forces or conditions that lead to tooth fractures. Recognizing the primary causes of tooth fractures helps individuals take preventive measures.
- Physical Trauma — Sports injuries, accidents, and falls can easily break a tooth into pieces or create a crack.
- Age‑Related Wear — The natural process of enamel aging produces small cracks that lead to increased tooth fractures beyond the age of fifty, but children maintain tooth fragility.
- Excessive Biting Forces — When you bite hard objects, they may exceed the strength of enamel, leading to tooth chipping or breaking while under pressure.
- Enamel Weakening — The continuous exposure to acidic foods and sugar, as well as acid reflux and incorrect brushing techniques, leads to progressive enamel layer destruction, which results in tooth vulnerability.
- Restorations and Grinding — The combination of large or aging dental fillings, reduced tooth substance, and persistent nighttime teeth grinding generates repeated stress, which causes tooth fractures.
Diagnosis Of Broken Or Fractured Teeth
The dental professional conducts diagnostic tests to determine the state of your tooth after your visit, due to suspected broken or fractured teeth. The dentist will first ask about your observed symptoms.
Your dentist will ask for information about the injuries and traumas that led to the breakage or fracture. The dentist begins by providing detailed tests to determine the severity of the damage. The dentist will inspect whether your tooth has sustained any cracking, breaking, or fracturing.
Immediate At-Home Management and Emergency Steps
While only a dentist can permanently repair a broken tooth, you can use warm salt‑water rinses, OTC dental wax or temporary cement, and cold compresses to manage discomfort until your appointment. You should seek emergency room care for serious cases or extreme pain, but you can also make an appointment with your dentist.
You can handle the moderate pain through home remedies until your appointment. You should take over-the-counter pain medicine, which includes acetaminophen and ibuprofen. The sensitivity of teeth rises when you consume either hot or cold foods or drinks. The consumption of food and drinks should occur at temperatures that are neither hot nor cold.
Mouthwashes and specific toothpaste types contain active substances that numb the nerve endings. Numbness of nerve endings leads to the reduction of pain.
Steps Before You Arrive At The Hospital
Warm water rinsing the mouth becomes essential when a broken tooth starts bleeding. The cleanup process of the injury depends on warm water. Apply a cotton pad or gauze over the site where bleeding occurs. Keep pressure on the broken tooth for ten minutes or until your bleeding stops. A tea bag is an alternative to cotton pads or gauze when bleeding does not stop.
Studies demonstrate that tea contains tannic acid, which accelerates blood clotting. Applying cold temperatures provides nerve numbing, leading to decreased swelling and pain. Apply a cold compress to the outside of your cheek nearest the injured tooth for 10–15 minutes to help numb pain and limit swelling.
Dental cement can protect the damaged tooth while you travel to seek hospital treatment. Temporary dental cement kits for crowns and bridges are available at pharmacies, drugstores, and online, providing short‑term protection until professional care is available. Consider taking OTC painkillers when the pain becomes unbearable.
Dental Treatment Procedures for Repairing Fractured or Broken Teeth
Your dentist will perform different procedures to fix a damaged or fractured tooth. The following list contains the standard dental treatment methods.
Dental Bonding
Dental bonding is a common way to repair broken or chipped teeth. Dental bonding is a great solution because bonding materials generally last three to ten years before maintenance or replacement is required. Anesthesia will be needed only when the dentist works on a cavity or exposed nerve during the procedure.
Your dentist will first roughen your tooth surface before attaching the composite through this procedure. The dentist applies composite material before activating it with special ultraviolet light to achieve hardening. Most fractures benefit from this procedure when the damage is not extensive.
Veneers
Dentists can use veneers as a treatment method for broken or fractured teeth. Multiple types of veneers are currently available on the market. Most dental practitioners choose porcelain veneers for their patients. Porcelain veneers are designed to closely mimic the appearance of natural teeth. The difference between natural teeth and veneers becomes challenging to detect. A veneer functions as a protective covering that fits over your tooth. To protect your tooth, your dentist will apply the veneer with cracks.
When properly maintained through oral hygiene practices, porcelain veneers can last 10–15 years, while composite veneers typically last 4–8 years. The dentist will attach veneers to any number of teeth that require the treatment. The medical specialist can fix the veneer to multiple or just one tooth.
Veneers are a top choice because they require minimal intervention, while most people do not require anesthesia. It’s also long-lasting. Veneers do not provide the best solution for people who grind their teeth because the process will eventually wear down the veneers.
Crowns
A crown is one of the treatment choices for patients with broken or fractured teeth. A crown stands as an excellent solution for severe tooth damage. The crown is a protective layer covering the tooth portion in your mouth. The reduction is followed by tooth shaping to achieve a better crown fit. A crown protects the tooth while allowing the tooth to handle chewing and biting forces.
Root Canal Therapy
A root canal procedure becomes necessary when the fracture reaches the tooth pulp. Following recovery from the procedure, the dentist will place a crown to protect the tooth from additional damage.
The dental root canal treatment procedure requires the dentist to remove decayed matter and affected nerve tissue. The dentist will use anesthesia to minimize the discomfort during the procedure. Failure to treat a damaged tooth will result in severe problems and complications.
Dental Implants
A dental implant is the most suitable treatment when the tooth damage is severe enough for the dentist to perform an extraction. The damage extends down to the root area below the jawline during this situation. The dentist needs to perform a tooth extraction when this situation applies.
The dentist will start with dental implant placement after tooth extraction. The dentist can extract the tooth before placing the dental implant directly afterward. The procedures can happen separately if you want them done on different dates.
Dental implants act as artificial roots to support replacement teeth when natural roots are missing. The dentist places a crown on the implant, designed to closely match the appearance of your natural teeth. Dental implants stay durable throughout their lifespan when patients practice good oral hygiene. The entire healing process for jawbone recovery requires twelve to fourteen weeks before the procedure can be completed.
Aftercare & Recovery
Patients typically experience the most discomfort within the first 72 hours post-treatment, with significant relief by the third day. The healing process requires 1-2 weeks of mild sensitivity, particularly after a root canal and crown placement.
Diet Modifications
The recommended diet for 2–3 days or until you feel comfortable chewing consists of yogurt, mashed potatoes, and smoothies. The treated tooth needs protection from eating hot, cold, hard, or sticky foods.
Oral Hygiene Tips
Using a soft-bristled brush with non-abrasive toothpaste, people should brush their teeth twice daily to avoid irritation. A warm salt water solution, mixing one teaspoon of salt in one cup of water, can help healing and minimize bacterial growth after meals.
Follow‑Up Schedule
The patient should schedule a restoration check between one and two weeks after treatment to evaluate how the restoration fits and how the healing process progresses. Regular dental examinations should be conducted every six months to track tooth health while detecting problems before they worsen.
Contact An Emergency Dental Practitioner Near Me
Maintaining oral health is vital to overall well-being, and untreated broken or fractured teeth can lead to pain, infection, and further damage. Damaged teeth require prompt professional care, whether caused by trauma, age-related wear, or dental decay. Before seeing your dentist, manage discomfort with over-the-counter pain relievers, rinse with warm salt water, and avoid chewing on the affected area until your appointment.
At Calabasas Smiles Advanced Dentistry, our experienced team specializes in diagnosing and treating fractures and breaks using contemporary techniques. We offer personalized treatment plans and free initial consultations. Contact us at 818-878-7300 to restore your fractured or broken teeth and protect your oral health.
