What happens if you leave a broken tooth?
Relative to other dental complications like gum disease, losing teeth, or even oral cancer, it seems to you that having a broken tooth is not really a huge deal. You can, however, be very wrong. Avoiding or postponing any treatments and simply managing your symptoms can easily cause the condition to progress and worsen with time. Pain and discomfort are not the only symptoms that you may experience, and the broken tooth could require more extensive treatment by prolonging treatment. Your dentist understands the consequences of an untreated broken tooth and will provide the appropriate repair procedure for your situation. To help you understand the importance and urgency of getting immediate assistance for a broken tooth, here are facts to help you determine the specifics of your broken tooth.
The Causes for a Broken Tooth
Why does a broken tooth happen? Despite the enamel surface being one of the hardest materials in your body, a tooth can still be damaged and broken. A few possible reasons can be:
- An unfortunate and accidental fall or a sports related injury.
- Untreated and constant bruxism, which is the clenching and grinding of your teeth.
- Biting down on hard objects or even hard food.
- Using your teeth as tools, biting pencils, opening bottles or bags, or biting fingernails.
- An untreated cavity that weakens the tooth.
- A large dental filling for a cavity that weakens the tooth.
Leaving a broken or fractured tooth untreated can very easily result in the pulp and the other live tissues inside the tooth to become infected. Once the tooth has become infected, the chance of losing the tooth increases substantially. The sooner you pursue proper treatment, the better are your chances of preventing any further progression of the crack, or chip, alleviating any pain, and most importantly, saving your tooth by keeping the bacteria and infection out of the tooth.
How Can a Broken Tooth be Treated?
Unlike some other dental and oral conditions that can be treated and resolved at home, a broken tooth does require an immediate evaluation by your dentist. As soon as you begin to experience pain that comes and goes in level of intensity as you bite down, and there is an increase in sensitivity with hot and cold temperature, it is advisable to seek immediate attention to get your broken tooth repaired and restored.
Your dentist will begin your treatment by examining the tooth and taking an x-ray to identify the health of the tooth under the surface of your gum. Once properly informed your dentist can effectively treat the broken tooth. If the tooth is chipped or fractured a simple dental bonding procedure can restore the tooth. If the pulp has become infected then a root canal procedure will be necessary, followed by the placement of a dental crown to protect what remains of your natural tooth. The final option might be to extract the tooth. Your dentist has been deliberately trained to take all measures possible to retain a natural tooth. If an extraction is indeed the appropriate solution your dentist can present restoration options to replace the tooth, either a dental bridge or a dental implant.