Blog Series – Cracked teeth

We are now keeping flawed teeth longer. What do I mean by that? When decay occurs part of the tooth is lost forever. The tooth, with its various structures, allows it to be very hard AND flexible. Once some of the structure is lost, the incredible forces of grinding and chewing teeth against each other can cause micro cracks to develop. The body does not heal these cracks.

Food impacts into these defects and the bacteria invade along the cracks. Eventually the tooth breaks. The dentist will clean up the decay and place a filling. The sooner the better. The reason is that a filling is NOT tooth structure. The tooth is still flawed except food and bacteria are now not making it worse. Now the remaining structure is flexing more in some section. Cracks may still develop, sometimes causing intermittent pain. This can be frustrating to diagnose as these cracks do not show on xrays unless they lie in the same line as the xray beam.

The ultimate diagnosis is part of the tooth falls off! Sometimes protective crowns are needed to protect the entire tooth.

However, even when there has been no decay, excessive grinding of the teeth due to stress or habit can lead to cracks and fractures. In severe situations cracks can still occur under crowns and teeth without filling can split down the middle causing the loss of the tooth.

An appliance called an occlusal splint, is strongly recommended to prevent this pathological bite or habit from cracking teeth and filling and even crowns.

• Cracked teeth – Ouch!
• Cracked teeth – help is on the way
• More options on cracked teeth

Next week: Blog Series – Dental exam, chart and treatment plan