I know I’m spending a long time discussing fractured/cracked teeth, but SO many people have them and just don’t know. Think silver fillings are the only reason? Think again..
Here’s the ‘final’ result for these two teeth. To date the back tooth has been absolutely fine, with no symptoms. We will end up putting a crown on this tooth in the near future, as long as it stays symptom-free.
But look what was found under this filling. The tooth had this very deep, significant crack. It runs down toward the top of the nerve in the tooth. In all likelihood Katherine will end up with a root canal on this tooth. Some day it will start to hurt and become VERY sensitive to hot and cold. I placed an extensive tooth-colored filling and the tooth has been fine for the last few months. We will soon place a crown to help bind together and support the remaining tooth structure, and hopefully prevent the tooth from cracking further.
But look closer at the back tooth. The arrows are pointing to some obvious cracks in this tooth. Remember, this was just an afterthought. The filling isn’t fractured and there doesn’t seem to be leakage or decay around the area that the filling and the tooth meet. It’s not hot, cold or bite sensitive.
Katherine asked to have this other filling replaced at the same time. She didn’t like the way it looked and thought it would be easy enough to replace it while she had the cavity taken care of in the tooth in front of it.
Cracked teeth, gum surgery, possible root canals, pain and discomfort. So how could this have been prevented? Both of these teeth should have been supported and strengthened with crowns YEARS ago! The crowns would bind the teeth together greatly decreasing the pressure inside. This is why we talk about putting a crown on a tooth BEFORE it breaks. It’s more predictable, and could save you the time, money, and pain that this patient had to endure.
The reason the tooth hurts is that it is cracked INSIDE, not just outside. These old silver fillings have been acting like a wedge right up the middle of his poor tooth. Slowly, it has fractured the tooth from the inside out. Now this entire portion has broken. This is what has caused so much recent pain. But…..and this is SO important….the tooth has not had ANY other symptoms before this!
Here’s the problem. This back tooth has been causing a LOT of pain for this poor patient. He can’t bite even lightly without the tooth hurting a lot. Cold bothers it, and hot is starting to, also. This has been for the last week. The crack is evident on the back side of this tooth (near the arrow). But that’s NOT the only crack in the tooth. It’s just the most obvious.
But maybe these teeth are not ok. Look at the area shown by the arrows:
Look closer at the cracks that are evident in these teeth:
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