Do You Have a Cracked Tooth?

Do you have a cracked tooth? If you answered “no”, don’t be so sure. Your dentist may not have found any damage during your last checkup, and your teeth may all look fine to you. But some cracks as so small that your dentist may not detect them, and they may not even appear on an X-ray.

You get a cracked tooth from a trauma to the mouth, eating hard or tough foods, grinding or clenching your teeth or from improper brushing and flossing. Even if you can’t see the crack, you will know it is there from the pain. If you feel a brief pain, no matter how intense when you bite, chew or eat something hot, cold or sweet, you may have a cracked tooth.

If you feel pain of any kind in your teeth or mouth, you should take note of where in your mouth the pain occurred, and what you were doing when it happened. That will give your dentist some idea of where to look during your examination. Any crack, no matter how small, is enough to allow bacteria to penetrate your tooth and an infection to develop. You dentist may decide to treat you with a crown, or if an infection has started, you may need a root canal.

If you are feeling any kind of pain in your teeth, you should plan to see our dentists, Drs. Roschella, Zinger and Brown for an examination. If you live in the Marriottsville, Maryland area and are experiencing dental pain, or if it is just time for your routine cleaning and checkup, you can call 410-442-5678 to plan your visit to RZ Dental Group.