Cracked tooth
Cracked tooth in Greenwich, CT: pain that ends the moment you let go
That specific pattern, a jab when you release the bite rather than when you press down, is the hallmark of a cracked tooth, and it is often invisible on a radiograph. We diagnose it by pattern and confirm it in the chair.
How urgent is it?
Within a few days
Cracks tend to spread. Caught while the crack is above the gum, the tooth is usually savable; left alone, it can split further.
Opening hours
Mon–Tue 8a–7p · Wed–Thu 8a–5p · Fri 9a–2p
What this usually means
The causes we see most often
01
Years of clenching or grinding
The most common cause we see. Enamel fatigues under repeated load the way any material does over time.
02
A tooth weakened by a large filling
The more of the original tooth structure that has been replaced, the less able it is to flex without cracking.
03
One hard bite
Sometimes there is a clear moment, a stone in a salad or a bite on a fork, and sometimes there is not.
What to do right now
Before you get here
- 01
Stay off that side of your mouth entirely. Every bite works the crack a little further.
- 02
Avoid very cold drinks, which tend to set off a cracked tooth more than anything else.
- 03
If you wear a night guard, keep wearing it. If you grind and do not have one, mention that when you call.
- 04
Please do not wait for it to declare itself. A crack that reaches the nerve turns a crown into a root canal.
What we would do
At the appointment
We test the tooth with a bite stick, cusp by cusp, and use light and magnification to locate the line. This is a diagnosis made by pattern more than by X-ray.
A crack within the crown is usually restored with a crown or onlay that binds the tooth back together and stops the flexing.
If the crack has already reached the nerve, root canal treatment comes first, followed by the crown. If it runs into the root, we tell you honestly that the tooth cannot be saved rather than recommend a crown that would fail.
How we fix it
The treatments this usually leads to
Q & A
What patients ask us about this
No. Most cracks do not appear on a radiograph at all, because the line runs in the same plane as the beam. They are found by testing the bite and examining under magnification.
A filling sits inside the tooth and allows the walls to keep flexing. A crown wraps around them and holds them still. On a cracked back tooth, a filling generally fails within a year or two.
Enamel does not heal, since there are no living cells in it to do the repairing. The goal is to stop the movement before the crack extends any further.
Where we are
211 East Putnam Avenue, Suite 2-6, Cos Cob
Minutes from central Greenwich on East Putnam Avenue, with parking at the building.
Patients travel to us from
Describe it in your own words when you call. We will tell you whether it needs us today.