Symptoms
In most cases a broken tooth is accompanied by many symptoms. Typically, it is extremely sensitive to pain (hypersensitive). Especially thermal stimuli such as hot and cold cause severe pain.
Recommended topic for you: Toothache This only ends after the dentist has carried out treatment. A simple filling is often sufficient for this. There is also pain when eating, which is caused by the pressure when chewing.
If it feels like knocking in the broken tooth, this indicates an inflammation of the root canal with pus formation. Typically, however, these symptoms in this case existed even before the fracture. In most cases, they were less pronounced before the fracture.
Treatment
As soon as a canine tooth is broken off, a dentist appointment should be arranged. It does not matter whether the tooth is painful or not. If a tooth is broken off, there is always an increased risk of caries and inflammation.
The reason for this is rough edges of the fracture or an opened tooth cavity. The dentist will start the treatment after diagnosis. In the simplest case a composite filling is sufficient.
If the broken-off part has been stored properly, the fragment can sometimes even be reattached. If, however, the majority of the crown is affected by the fracture, then a root canal treatment with subsequent crowning is usually unavoidable. Sometimes the damage to the canine is too severe, then it must be extracted.
The tooth is then replaced by a bridge or a prosthesis or implant. The correct restoration is made individually for each patient. Self-treatment is not possible in this case. If it is visually very disturbing, you can go to the dentist on the same day, who may have a temporary solution ready.
What to do if only one piece is broken off?
If only a piece of the canine tooth breaks off, there are several treatment options. These depend on the degree of fracture and the size of the broken piece. A simple fracture is only in the enamel/dental bone, but does not affect the pulp.
This means that there is no damage to the dental nerve.In this case, the tooth is restored with a plastic filling (composite). However, if the fracture also affects the tooth cavity, the tooth nerve has been damaged. Then a root canal treatment must be carried out, as bacteria may already have reached the tip of the root.
Afterwards the tooth should be crowned. This is necessary because the root-treated tooth is no longer sufficiently supplied with nutrients and then becomes brittle over time. A crown provides sufficient stability.
If this treatment is not carried out, the tooth becomes inflamed within a short time and can cause great pain and even loss of the tooth. If it is no longer possible to reposition or reattach the broken tooth fragment to the tooth, the defect must be rebuilt with a filling material. There are many different variants of filling materials, which are selected depending on the size of the defect and the localization (e.g. visible or invisible area, occlusal surface or neck of the tooth, etc.)
The possibilities are numerous and range from direct restorations made of cement, amalgam or plastic (so-called composites), which are fabricated in one session directly on the chair, to laboratory-fabricated fillings made of ceramic or gold. Due to the wide range of options available, the cost of a filling is also wide ranging, ranging from €40-500 depending on the size and material. The question of the material is always situation-dependent and must be individually adapted to the patient and discussed with the respective dentist.
This should explain the advantages and disadvantages, costs and the longevity of the respective material, so that one can weigh for itself as a patient which material appears to be the best for itself. The question arises whether it is necessary that the dentist has to use a drill for a broken tooth. The answer depends on how large the defect is, which material is used for filling and whether there is caries.
If only a small piece of the tooth is broken off and there is not enough surface area to hold the filling, the area may have to be enlarged with a drill. This is especially the case if the tooth is filled with conventional cement or amalgam. Composites, on the other hand, are attached to the tooth in such a way that they form a bond with the tooth and can therefore hold even on small surfaces.
If the tooth is decayed, the caries must be removed completely with a drill in any case, so that a progression of the caries under the filling can be prevented. Even if it is necessary to drill, an anesthetic is not always necessary. Often the defect is so far away from the nerves of the tooth that a pain is hardly noticeable.
Even if the tooth is already dead, anesthesia is not necessary. In some cases, if a lot of the tooth is broken off, it is no longer possible to fill it with a filling and the tooth must be crowned. A crown is made in the laboratory and cannot be placed directly in the first session.
Also the preparations on the tooth for a laboratory made crown are more extensive than for a filling, so more time should be planned for the first appointment. If you now come to the practice with a broken tooth as an emergency, you must expect to receive a temporary restoration first. As the name suggests, a temporary solution is only a temporary solution and serves only as a temporary solution until the actual crown is completed.
Temporaries are made of tooth-colored resins that provide temporary esthetics and also restore the chewing function well. However, these materials are not very stable and also not particularly resistant to abrasion, so they cannot remain in the mouth for long without breaking or discoloring. In addition, temporaries are a foreign body that does not provide a good fit, so that the gums become irritated and inflamed in the long run.
A temporary should not remain in the mouth for longer than a few weeks to a few months. The cost of a temporary restoration of one or more teeth is included in the cost of a crown and usually no further costs are incurred. However, if the tooth has to be provisionally restored for a longer period of time, e.g. due to longer stays abroad, illness, pregnancy, cost reasons or similar reasons, a long-term temporary solution has to be made, which is manufactured in the laboratory and has a higher stability and oral stability.
Additional costs may arise. A long-term provisional can be worn for 6 to a maximum of 12 months.If a piece of tooth breaks off and the remaining part becomes dark or had a dark color before, it can be assumed that the tooth has already died. How does this happen?
If the tooth gets a violent impact or has a deep caries or fracture, it reacts with an inflammatory reaction. The dentin (dentine) and the pulp (tooth cavity), which is filled with nerves and blood, react to such unphysiological (pathological) stimuli with an inflammation and try to regenerate. In case of a shock, nerves and vessels can break off and in case of deep caries or a deep fracture, the pulp (tooth cavity) is exposed and microorganisms can penetrate into the depth of the tooth.
In both cases an inflammatory reaction occurs. If the body does not manage to control the pathological stimulus through this natural defense mechanism, the nerve dies and the tooth is no longer supplied. As a result, the tooth becomes discolored and a root canal treatment must be initiated.
After the root canal treatment, however, it is in no case that the tooth is supplied with blood again or that the nerve is regenerated. Therefore, it can be assumed that the tooth will retain its dark color or possibly even become darker with time. For this reason, in order to restore the original color of the tooth, either a filling or a crown must be fixed to the tooth.
If the tooth is not damaged and a filling or crown is not necessary, it is possible to bleach the tooth from the inside. All three alternatives are very effective and can usually restore the previous situation and aesthetics completely. However, with all three treatment options you have to expect a contribution that is not paid by your health insurance.
Once the root canal treatment is completed, the discoloration of the tooth poses no further danger and can be left as is if desired. If the canine tooth breaks off completely down to the gum level, then the tooth cavity is affected in any case. In this case, the first step is root canal treatment, followed by a crown with a post-abutment structure.
This means that a post is anchored in the root canal and then an artificial tooth stump is built up. This is necessary to ensure that the crown has sufficient retention force. Afterwards an artificial crown can be made for the tooth, which is cemented onto the abutment.
However, if the tooth breaks off below the gum line, the treatment is usually more difficult. To preserve the tooth, the dentist must ensure that there is enough space (2mm) between the bone and the restoration (biological width), otherwise the tooth would become inflamed. If this biological width cannot be maintained, a surgical crown extension is necessary.
This treatment will be invoiced to the patient privately. Sometimes a broken canine tooth cannot be saved, then it must be extracted. A gap treatment can be done with a bridge, for example. To decide on the right treatment, a visit to the dentist is mandatory. A remote diagnosis is not possible.
