Compared to other dental complications such as gum disease, losing a tooth, or even discovering oral cancer, having a broken tooth is not necessarily a big problem. You could, however, be wrong. Postponing or avoiding treatment and just managing your symptoms can cause the situation to progress and worsen over time. Discomfort and pain are not the only symptoms you might experience, and the broken tooth may very well require more extensive treatment by prolonging any treatment.
Your dentist appreciates the consequences of an untreated broken tooth and will provide you the appropriate procedure to repair the tooth. To help you understand the urgency and importance of getting immediate attention for a broken tooth, here are some facts to help you determine the severity of your broken tooth.
The Causes for a Broken Tooth
What causes a broken tooth to happen? Despite the protective enamel surface being one of the hardest materials present in your body, a tooth can still be damaged and broken. Some reasons can be:
* An accidental or unfortunate fall or a sports related injury.
* Constant bruxism left untreated, which is the grinding and clenching of your teeth.
* Biting on hard objects, a pencil, fingernails, ice, or hard food.
* Using your teeth lie a tool opening bottles or bags.
* The tooth weakening from an untreated cavity.
* A large dental filling for a cavity that also weakens the tooth.
Leaving a fractured or broken tooth untreated can easily result in the pulp and the live tissue inside the tooth to become infected. Once the pulp has become infected, the chance of losing the tooth increases dramatically. The sooner you seek out proper treatment, the better chance you have of preventing further progression of the chip, or crack, alleviating pain, and most importantly, saving the tooth by keeping the bacteria out of the tooth.
How Can a Broken Tooth be Treated?
Unlike some dental and oral conditions that can be treated and then resolved at home, a broken tooth requires a prompt evaluation by your dentist. As soon as you begin to suffer pain that varies in level of intensity as you bite down, and there might be an increase in sensitivity with both hot and cold temperature, it is wise to seek immediate attention to get the broken tooth repaired.
Your dentist will begin the treatment by examining the tooth and capturing an x-ray to determine the health of the tooth under the surface. Once the damage is identified your dentist can effectively treat the broken tooth. If the tooth was chipped or fractured an easy dental bonding procedure will restore the tooth. If the pulp is infected then a root canal procedure most likely will be necessary, followed by a dental crown placed on the tooth to protect what remains of the natural tooth. The final option could be to extract the tooth.
Your dentist has been professionally trained to take all measures available to retain a natural tooth. If an extraction is the necessary solution your dentist will present restoration options to replace the tooth, either a dental bridge or a dental implant.