You may become afraid if one of your teeth cracks. This is understandable when you think about how quickly this can lead to bigger problems. However, it is never good for you to panic. If one of your teeth cracks, call a Houston dentist at the Medical Center Dental Group and schedule an appointment.

You may have already noticed certain symptoms. One of the first symptoms is a sharp pain that you feel when you bit. You may also have noticed sensitivity to hot and cold drinks, or even certain foods.

If your case is more sever, you may even see the crack when you bite down and look at your teeth in the mirror.

If you have experienced any of the following symptoms, it is time to call your Houston dentist as soon as you can. Do not put this off. Tooth decay can result, because a crack can make a tooth sensitive because of the movement of the fractured edges.

As they separate, they allow food, saliva, and liquid from drinks to lead directly into the pulp.

Craze lines are tiny, superficial cracks in the tooth enamel. They are very common in adults, and they are quite often the natural result of aging. These are often seen on anterior teeth—something equivalent to miles on a car.

Craze lines require no treatment. However, you need a Houston dentist to determine if you have craze lines or something more serious.

Other cracks, however, will require professional dental treatment. These are the ones that produce the symptoms discussed previously in this blog. Treating the tooth will vary based upon the type of crack and its severity.

Symptomatic cracks cause pain that can vary from minor sensitivity to a throbbing toothache. You need to get to a dental chair as soon as you can if you have any of these symptoms.

There are also asymptomatic cracks that do not hurt, and they can only be discovered when you see a Houston dentist. They can only be detected through a thorough dental examination. Often they can lie “dormant” for a long period of time, only to become more severe and begin producing symptoms as the condition of your tooth worsens.

This is why regular checkups are so important.

The treatments we use here at the Cosmetic Dentistry Center can range from a bonded filling or a crown that reinforces the tooth to the more drastic measure of a root canal treatment. A root canal must be performed when a tooth nerve has been damaged by a fracture.

Occasionally, a tooth that has a fracture in it simply cannot be fixed. However, the advantage of getting this bad news at our office is that we can also replace that tooth with a natural-looking, fully functional dental implant.

Labels: cracked teeth, symptomatic cracks