Adult Crowding - Great Park Dental

Grinding

Do you have cracked teeth?

Have you noticed sudden pain when you bite down? Or have you experienced pain that comes and goes that seems hard to pin point? You could be having a “cracked tooth” pain. Cracked tooth can have crack that penetrates through the underlying dentin layer and reaches into the pulp. Since the dental pulp houses the nerve, you can experience sensitivity to pain depends on the location and severity of the crack.

What to look for?

You might have pain biting down

You might have pain once your bite is released.

You might have sensitivity to hot and cold.

You might feel that there’s floss or food stuck in your tooth and you can’t get it out.

You might have cracks that your tongue can feel.

Amazing

How do you know your tooth has cracked?

Cracked tooth can be hard to detect by yourself. The pain may come and go. You might notice one time and the pain seems to go away, and only returns more frequent. Your dentist can help you pinpoint the where the pain is located at. And with early treatment, you might be able to avoid more costly treatment or dire consequences. Your dentist can take a picture of the tooth and show you where the crack is.

What caused the tooth to crack?

“Cracked tooth could be due to presence of large filling. If you look at the picture to the right closely, you can see that the molar has a large filling in the middle. The wall fractures off as a result of the biting force.

Cracked tooth can also be attributed to grinding and clenching. A condition commonly known as bruxism. Grinding is the motion of meshing your upper and lower teeth together. When a person has bruxism, the biting surface of the tooth can look very worn down. Clenching is the motion that your jaw muscles flex and tense while you hold your teeth together. So the combination of the grinding and clenching can put a constant stress on your teeth.

Cracked tooth could be due to bad habits, such as biting a pencil, chewing on ice, chomping down on crab legs, bones, or any hard objects, even opening bottle caps.

How to prevent cracked tooth?

To prevent night time grinding, you can wear a protective night guard. A night guard should be well made that can fit snugly over your tooth surface and won’t get dislodged. A hard guard can prevent the teeth from grinding and prevent the muscle from clenching, but not everyone can tolerate a hard night guard. You can also get a clear aligner style night guard that fit over both upper and lower arches. The clear aligner style night guard is basically a clear aligner but with a different thickness and resiliency material.

A Snore guard can also be an effective way in preventing grinding while reducing snoring. A snore guard works in bringing the lower jaw forward so that there is more room for your tongue and the airway is not obstructed.

Treatment for cracked tooth

Depends on the size of the crack or severity of the crack, you might need different types of treatment. If the crack is small enough, you can usually get a filling to replace the crack or old filling. If the crack is bigger, you might get an onlay or a crown to cover the tooth. If your crack has extended into the nerve and you have severe sensitivity or pain, you might need a root canal.

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