I Chipped or Broke a Tooth
What to do in the first few minutes, which breaks need seeing today, and how each kind gets repaired.
A tooth usually breaks at the worst possible moment, and what you do in the first few minutes makes a difference. Call (918) 355-1391 and describe what happened. With two dentists at Dentistry For You in Broken Arrow there is generally room to fit an emergency into the day.
First, in the Next Five Minutes
Rinse your mouth gently with warm water to clear any fragments. If there is bleeding, press a clean piece of gauze against it for ten minutes without lifting to check.
Find the broken piece and keep it. Use a cold compress on the outside of your face if the area is swelling or sore. If a sharp edge is catching your tongue or cheek, cover it with dental wax or a piece of sugar-free gum until you can be seen.
Avoid chewing on that side, and take over-the-counter pain relief as directed if you need it.
Which Breaks Are Urgent
Not every break needs an appointment today, and knowing the difference saves worry.
A small chip of enamel with no pain and no sharp edge can wait a few days. It is still worth booking, because a chipped edge tends to chip further.
A break that exposes yellow dentine underneath the enamel should be seen within a day or two. The dentine is porous and connects to the nerve, so it is usually sensitive and it is a route for bacteria.
A break showing a pink or red spot in the centre has reached the pulp, and that needs seeing straight away.
A tooth broken at or below the gum line, and any break that came with a blow to the face, needs urgent attention.
Why Pain Is a Poor Guide
People routinely decide how serious a break is by how much it hurts, and that is unreliable. Whether a break hurts depends on whether it has reached the nerve, which is not the same as how much of the tooth has gone.
A tooth can be fractured vertically through the root, which is often the worst possible break, and feel like nothing at all until infection develops weeks later. Meanwhile a tiny exposure of dentine can be extremely sensitive.
So treat the appearance of the break as the guide rather than the sensation.
How Each Kind Gets Repaired
A small chip is usually repaired with composite bonding in a single appointment, often without numbing. The composite is shaped onto the tooth and hardened with a light.
A larger break that leaves the tooth structurally weak needs a crown, which covers the tooth and holds the remaining walls together rather than wedging them apart.
If the break has reached the pulp, the tooth needs root canal treatment first and then a crown.
A tooth fractured below the gum line usually cannot be restored, and the answer is extraction followed by an implant or a bridge.
Why Teeth Break
Occasionally it is a genuine accident, a fall or a blow. More often the tooth was already weakened and the final piece of popcorn simply finished the job.
Large old fillings are the most common reason. A filling fills a hole but does not strengthen what is left, and a tooth that is mostly filling has thin walls. Grinding is the other big cause, because it applies far more force than chewing ever does, for hours, every night.
If you grind, a night guard is the cheapest dentistry you will buy, and if you have several large old fillings it is worth asking which of those teeth would be better protected with a crown before one of them splits.
Call (918) 355-1391 or use the contact form.
Broken Tooth Questions
Is a chipped tooth an emergency?
A small chip in the enamel with no pain is not urgent, though it should still be looked at before a rough edge cuts your tongue or the chip gets worse. A break that exposes yellow dentine or a pink or red spot in the middle is urgent, and a tooth broken at the gum line needs seeing straight away.
Should I keep the broken piece?
Yes, bring it. It cannot always be reattached, but for a clean fracture of a front tooth it sometimes can, and either way it tells us exactly how much structure is missing.
What if it does not hurt?
A broken tooth that does not hurt still needs looking at. Pain depends on whether the break has reached the nerve, not on how serious the damage is. A tooth can be cracked through the root and feel nothing until infection sets in.
Can a broken tooth be saved?
Usually, if you are seen before the break extends. Chips are bonded, larger breaks are crowned, and a break that has reached the nerve needs root canal treatment and then a crown. A fracture running below the gum into the root is the one that often cannot be saved, which is why time matters.
Call Before You Set Off
Tell us what broke and when. We will tell you what to do on the way in.