Treatment
Cracked tooth pain in Kettering
A sharp, momentary pain when you bite — often worse when you release — is the characteristic sign of a cracked tooth. Cracks do not show on ordinary X-rays and seldom explain themselves, so finding one and working out how deep it goes calls for a careful, structured examination.
How cracks happen
Back teeth carry heavy loads, and a tooth already weakened by a large filling has less structure to resist them. Clenching or grinding, chewing ice or hard sweets, biting unexpectedly on something hard or simply years of use can begin a crack that deepens gradually. A root-treated tooth that was never crowned is particularly vulnerable.
What to look for
- a sharp jolt on biting that disappears as soon as you release;
- pain that is hard to pin to one tooth and comes and goes;
- sensitivity to cold or sweet things in a tooth without visible decay;
- discomfort only when you bite on one specific point.
If the crack reaches the pulp, the pattern changes: the pain starts spontaneously or lingers after hot and cold, and the tooth behaves like one that needs root canal treatment.
Finding the crack
Several tests are combined, because none is conclusive alone. You bite, cusp by cusp, on a small plastic instrument to reproduce the pain; dye is applied to stain the crack line; a bright light is shone through the tooth to show where the crack interrupts it; and the tooth is examined under the operating microscope, where hairline cracks become visible. X-rays exclude other causes and show the bone, and nerve tests establish whether the pulp is still healthy.
Treatment according to depth
A shallow crack confined to the crown of the tooth is usually treated by your dentist with an onlay or crown that holds the tooth together and stops the crack spreading. A crack that has reached the pulp needs root canal treatment before the tooth is crowned. A crack that extends below the gum or splits the root means the tooth cannot be saved, and the right advice is extraction and a plan for its replacement. Whatever is found, you receive it in writing with the reasoning.
Why early matters
Cracks never shrink. A tooth examined when the first twinges appear stands every chance of being protected and kept; one that has been chewed on for a year while the crack grows may not. If you have had that sharp, fleeting pain on biting for more than a couple of weeks, have the tooth assessed.