by Priya Kanwar

Created on: February 05, 2009

How to recognise and take care of the cracked tooth syndrome.

Toothache, can be very painful and excruciating and according to me is the worst kind of pain. This is exactly the kind of pain that you will experience if you have a "cracked tooth". There are, of course, different categories of a cracked tooth. A tooth can fracture (I am speaking of "hairline" fracture) in many planes and may involve any of the three layers that it is made up of, namely; the enamel, dentin, or the pulp. The symptoms of a cracked tooth can vary from mild sensitivity to episodes of sharp and excruciating pain that lasts for some time and generally occurs when you bite on something hard or release the biting pressure on the affected tooth along the fracture line (typically). You may also experience sensitivity in the affected tooth (locally) when you take anything hot or cold! This is different from generalized sensitivity of all teeth due to ageing. A cracked tooth can be difficult to diagnose for a dentist because of the conflicting signs and symptoms and the fact that it does not always show up in radiographs (X-rays). The tooth may have cracked due to any number of reasons like trauma, caries, old fillings, or any ill fitting prosthesis.

If the crack or fracture of the tooth only involves the enamel, then chances are that the tooth may just chip off at that area or the crack may remain as a microscopic one and you may remain unaware of its existence as there will not be any signs or symptoms. Treatment for this type of crack is only cosmetic treatment, if the tooth is chipped off, or you can also leave it as it is.

If the crack involves the second layer, that is the dentin, then you will experience sensitivity to hot and cold, the severity of which may be mild to severe, depending on the type of crack and how far it extends. Generally speaking, the closer the crack gets to the pulp of the tooth the more severe will be your pain. It will occur when you bite on something hard or release pressure to the tooth. You will experience a "sudden" sharp shooting pain that will definitely make you stop whatever you are doing at that point of time. The pain characteristically lingers on for some time and then lowers in intensity and then may either stop or will continue as a dull nagging pain.

So, what do you do in case you are caught in this situation? You may rush to a dentist, the first thing, only to be told after examination of the tooth that it is perfectly fine. The dentist will take X-rays

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