If you experience an occasional sharp, intense pain in your mouth when you bite down that then disappears when you release your bite, or if you feel pain when you are eating or drinking something hot or cold, you may have a cracked tooth!
Identifying the source of cracked tooth pain can be a pain in itself! Not only can a crack be invisible to the eye during your checkup, but oftentimes it cannot even be seen on an x-ray. To compound the problem, identifying where the pain is originating isn’t easy either, as the crack may actually be more of a hairline fracture, running vertically along the tooth. It’s also common to feel pain in a tooth at the top of your mouth when the crack is actually on the bottom, or vice-versa.
If you suspect you may have a cracked tooth, make sure that you note when and where you feel the pain, and mention it to us when you’re in for your next checkup (or sooner if it’s bothering you) in order to have the best chance of saving your tooth.
Unlike a broken bone, a cracked tooth never heals naturally. Once we identify the cracked tooth, we’ll recommend a treatment–whether it’s bonding, a root canal, or another option–that will allow you to eat in comfort without the fear of a sharp jolt of pain that characterizes a cracked tooth.