Broken tooth while eating, what to do while waiting for the dentist? Why does a tooth break while eating? What are the treatments that your dentist could propose to you in order to repair your broken tooth? Broken tooth, what to do? And finally, what is the cost of repairing a broken tooth?
I. Why a Tooth Breaks While Eating
It is possible for your tooth to break or to have a dental trauma when you eat. This happens especially when you eat solid foods.
However, you should know that the tooth that breaks has been weakened.
Whether it is because of a major blow to the head, teeth grinding, a bad bite, or bad habits such as nail-biting.
Thus weakened, it only takes a small shock, such as biting the fork or biting an apple, for the tooth to break.
II. Broken tooth while eating, what to do while waiting for the dentist?
Once you notice that you have a chipped tooth, there are a number of things you should do before going to the dentist:
- Start by retrieving the broken tooth or a small piece of a broken tooth. It is possible that the piece of the tooth can be reattached by the dentist. If the entire tooth is out, grab it by the crown and avoid touching the root.
- Keep the tooth or the piece of the tooth. The best thing to do is to immerse the tooth in a sterile saline solution sold in pharmacies. If you don’t have one, you can dip it in milk and then in a freezer bag. Otherwise, if you go to the dentist immediately after the incident, keep the piece of tooth in your mouth. In any case, avoid paper or water.
- You can rinse your mouth with warm salted water.
- Avoid eating hard foods if the tooth is broken. But if it is completely gone, avoid biting and chewing on the empty space.
- If you are in pain, there are a few things you can do to limit the pain. You can take an anti-inflammatory or a painkiller. However, you will need to be careful not to drop the prescribed doses. You can also apply an ice pack or a cold compress for 15 minutes on the cheek where you feel the pain.
- Finally, make an appointment with a dentist so that he or she can suggest the appropriate treatment to repair the broken tooth.
III. Small Piece of Tooth Broken in Front
Front teeth can break off after a fall or when you bite into hard food. A broken front tooth can be unpleasant.
On the one hand, you will have difficulty crunching your food normally. On the other hand, it is not always aesthetically pleasing to smile with a broken or chipped tooth.
If this is your case, you can recover the piece of tooth, keep it and go to the dentist. Most of the time, the dentist will offer dental bonding.
This treatment consists of applying a plastic adhesive that is the same color as your tooth. The adhesive is shaped and polished to match your other teeth.
No anesthesia is needed for the treatment because it is not painful. And they last on average between 30 minutes and one hour.
After the treatment, you will have to be careful when biting into food, especially when it is solid.
You should also avoid drinks and foods that stain, such as tea or coffee.
Finally, in order for the dental bonding to last longer, you must have good oral hygiene.
IV. Treatments that Your Dentist May Offer to Repair Your Broken Tooth
If your tooth is broken, whether you feel pain or not, whatever the dental trauma, it is imperative to go to a dentist. The dentist will perform an examination before proposing an appropriate treatment.
- If the dental pulp is not affected. In this case, the breakage concerns the upper part of the tooth, the dentin, or the enamel. In this case, the dentist may decide to glue the piece of the tooth back together. For this reason, it is important to keep the broken piece. If the piece of the tooth is lost or cannot be used, the dentist may use a high-strength resin. Sometimes, if there are just small fragments that have come loose, all that is needed to correct the broken tooth is a polish.
- If the dental pulp is affected, the dentist will first devitalize the affected tooth. He will then propose the placement of a crown after protecting the teeth. To get a crown, you need to schedule at least two appointments with your dentist. The crown has several advantages. It allows you to have functions and an aesthetic appearance similar to your natural tooth. However, the crown is stronger and more resistant than your natural teeth. This is a good asset to regaining normal chewing.
- If the breakage reaches the root of the tooth, the dentist will have to extract the tooth. There are three possible solutions: a removable partial denture, a fixed dental bridge, or a crown on an implant.
V. Broken Tooth that cuts my tongue
A broken tooth can cut your tongue. This can happen while you are talking or eating.
Very often, these lacerations are not serious and do not require surgery. A tongue injury can be compressed with a gauze pad.
But it can also happen that you bite down hard and seriously injure yourself.
In this case, you should go to the hospital immediately so that the doctor can assess the extent of the damage and decide on an operation.
This may be necessary if the wound is larger than 2 cm if there is persistent bleeding if there is an amputation or a partial avulsion.
It may be necessary in case of problematic configurations: gaping laceration, bisecting, U-shaped, or with large flaps.
VI. Broken Tooth at the Gum Line
In rare cases, the tooth may be cracked or fractured at the gum or bone level while eating.
In this case, you should consult a dentist as soon as possible, especially when you have pain from a broken tooth.
The dentist will adjust the level of the gum using a laser. In this way, the dentist can free the tooth for repair.
The patrician can also remove the gum and bone around the tooth to repair it, which is called clinical crown lengthening.
For good results, in the end, the edge of the restoration must be located at least 3 mm away from the bone level.
The crown lengthening allows for the recreation of clearance between the edge of the restoration and the bone level. In order to strengthen the tooth, a crown can be made.
In addition, it may be necessary to extract the tooth if it is broken at the bone or gum level and place an implant in its place before placing the crown or even a dental bridge.
VII. What to Do When it Comes to Children
In general, we talk more about broken teeth on permanent teeth. But children’s baby teeth are not spared.
It is enough that they make a bad fall or that they bite too hard food for the tooth to break.
If this happens, it is important not to panic, but to console and reassure the child. If you have found a small piece of a broken tooth or an entire broken tooth, you should keep it as if it were an adult tooth.
Next, you should make an appointment with the dentist as soon as possible so that he or she can diagnose the problem and suggest an appropriate treatment.
It is important to see a dentist because he or she will see if the tooth is fractured at the gum level in order to avoid complications such as an abscess or a delay in the evolution of the permanent tooth.
If it is a simple fracture, the dentist can polish the edges so that the child does not hurt his tongue or lips.
In some cases, the patrician may perform a reconstruction of the teeth.
VIII. Repairing a broken tooth: the price
To reattach the fragment of a tooth or to reconstitute it with resin, it is necessary to count between $100 and $200.
For the crown, if it is metallic in chrome or nickel, you should count between $800 and $1500.
For the ceramic crown, it is between $1000 and $3000. And finally, for the ceramic-metallic crown, the price is between $500 and $1200.
Useful Links:
Cracked tooth syndrome: A report of three cases
Cracking the Cracked Tooth Code: Detection and Treatment of Various Longitudinal Tooth Fractures
Can a Small Hole in a Tooth Heal?
Can rheumatoid arthritis affect your teeth? [causes & Symptoms]