Cracked Teeth

by Dr Róisín Boyle

Due to wear and tear and chewing forces combined with heavily restored teeth or grinding habits teeth can crack. These cracks can be minimal craze lines only in enamel or deeper cracks extending towards the dentine. The result can be cusps fracturing of teeth, decay starting, pain on biting, toothache or tooth loss in some cases. Not all cracks/ craze lines need intervention but cracks extending into dentine do.

If you suffer from fillings fracturing regularly it may be due to cracked teeth. Or if you have a tooth that is sore to bite on harder foods, it may also be due to a crack or even a failing filling that needs replaced.

Cracked teeth are structurally compromised and so need to be restored in a way which repairs lost tooth structure and protects the remaining tooth. Sometimes this involves a crown or partial crown (onlay/overlay) on the tooth to protect the remaining tooth from stresses. Sometimes if the crack is not too extensive the tooth may be able to be restored with a composite restoration bonded to the tooth with perhaps some fibres to reinforce the tooth.

If the crack propagates to deeply into the tooth then the next stage could be root canal treatment or extraction. The aim is to reduce the risk of this happening and to extend the lifetime of the tooth. If you have any symptoms always talk to your dentist and attend regularly for check ups so any problems can be detected as early as possible.