Cracked Tooth Syndrome

Crack tooth syndrome is a fracture or crack in the tooth. The Fracture is often difficult to detect and may be completely invisible to the naked eye. It may not even appear on an x-ray.

Symptoms of crack tooth syndrome

-Tooth hurts when you bite or chew.
-The pain you feel is intermittent, rather than constant.
-The tooth may be more sensitive to cold.
-You feel a sharp pain when you bite down.

How do teeth crack?

As your teeth age, they may loose some of their original strength. Clenching and grinding, for instance, can weaken teeth. Large Fillings and root canal treatment can also cause your teeth to lose strength and make them brittle. Every day, your teeth endure a tremendous amount of pressure from biting and chewing, so if you bite down on a hard object like a piece of ice or a popcorn kernel, the force can sometimes cause a tooth to crack, especially if it's already weakened.

Diagnosis and treatment 

Diagnosis of cracked tooth syndrome is often difficult, we'll do a thorough examination of your mouth and teeth, focusing on the tooth in question. We'll take an x-rays, although x-rays often do not show the fracture, we'll also analyze your bite to isolate the problem. Once we've identified the fractured portion of your tooth, the treatment depends on the location and direction of the crack as well as the extent of the damage. Many people with cracked tooth syndrome have symptoms for months. Crack tooth syndrome is one of the most difficult dental problems to diagnose because the pain is not predictable.

If the crack affects only the outer enamel layer of your tooth, we'll remove the affected portion and restore the tooth with a crown or onlay to stabilize it and protect it from further damage. If the crack affects the underlying dentin or pulp layers, however, you'll need more complicated treatment, such as root canal treatment, before we can place a crown.

In rare cases, a crack extends all the way through the tooth and under the bone. In these case there is no way to restore the tooth, and we have no other option besides removing the tooth. Fortunately, most cracked teeth can be saved. It's important to find the crack early in its development and treat it.