Can I Prevent My Teeth And Fillings From Breaking?

Most Fractures happen when you least expect them.However, you can reduce the risk of breaking teeth by:

• Aiming to eliminate clenching habits during waking hours.
• Avoiding chewing hard objects (eg bones, pencils, ice).
• Avoiding chewing hard foods such as pork crackling and hard-grain bread.

If you grind your teeth at night, a night guard or a splint should be worn.

It is very important to preserve the strength of your teeth so they are not as susceptible to fracture. Therefore, have decay detected and treated early as heavily decayed and therefore heavily filled teeth are much weaker than teeth that have never been filled.

Individuals who have problems with tooth wear or "Cracked Tooth Syndrome" should consider wearing a night guard while sleeping. This will absorb most of the grinding forces.

Relaxation exercises may be beneficial.

How Is A Cracked Tooth Treated?

It depends on the direction and severity of the crack.

If the crack is small enough it may be removed by replacing the filling.

Bonded white fillings generally hold the tooth together, making it less likely to crack.

Occasionally, the cracked part of the tooth fractures off during the removal of the filling and this can be replaced with a new filling.

Other options include the placement of gold or porcelain crowns.

If the crack goes too far vertically, there is a possibility the tooth may need to be removed and replaced with an artificial one (see bridges, dentures, and implants).The nerve may sometimes be affected so badly that it dies.Root canal treatmentwill be required if the tooth is to be saved.