What to Do When a Tooth Breaks

Our teeth are incredibly strong, but when a tooth breaks, chips or cracks, its best to come in to the office and have it looked at. Your teeth can break by simply biting down on something really hard or getting into a fight, having a fall or If you have cavities. Here at Belvedere Family Dentistry we can take care of all these problems.

Will There Be Any Pain?

When your tooth breaks or chips, it may not hurt at that time. However, your tongue will feel it instantly. The area will be sharp and it will feel pretty weird until your tongue gets used to it or until your broken tooth gets fixed. Really small tooth breaks, or fractures normally don’t cause any pain, but if you have a large crack, it can hurt. This is because the nerve that is inside of your tooth is damaged and will lead to extreme discomfort when exposed to hot or cold substances and the air. The pain from your broken tooth can be constant or it can come and go. Many people will feel the pain when they eat because when they chew it puts pressure on the tooth.

What You Can Do When a Tooth Breaks

You cannot treat a cracked or fractured tooth at home. You will need to come in and see us to get it looked it. Sometimes your tooth looks fine, but if it starts to hurt when you eat or drink anything, that is because the substance is hitting the nerve. But if your tooth starts to hurt all the time, the crack may have damaged the blood vessels. This is a very bad warning sign. If your tooth is completely broken you will need to come and see us as soon as possible. We can figure out if the brake was caused by a cavity and to see if the nerve is in danger. If the nerve is damaged it will need to be fixed by a Root Canal.

What You Can Do at Home

Here is a list of steps that you can do at home for a broken tooth, until you have some free time to come into the office.

• Rinse your mouth out thoroughly with warm water.
• If your tooth is bleeding after the break you will need to apply some pressure with a piece of gauze or washcloth for about 5-10 minutes or until the bleeding stops.
• You can also put a cold pack on your cheek or your lips that near your broken tooth. This will help decrease the swelling and relieve your pain.
• If you can’t come to the office right away, you will need to cover the broken part of your tooth with temporary dental cement. You can buy this at the local drugstore.
• You can also take an over-the-counter pain pill, but if you are bleeding stay away from aspirin, that will cause more bleeding due to it being a blood thinner.

If your tooth breaks please don’t hesitate to call us! Here at Belvedere Family Dentistry in Charlotte, North Carolina, we will take care of all your dental needs in a quick and timely manner.