Back to this poor tooth. This is what’s been done. Since the fracture was so far below the gum this patient had to have the gum tissue moved down the neck of the tooth to expose healthy tooth structure. This procedure is called crown lengthening and is performed by a gum specialist, or periodontist. After the tissue has healed a crown will be placed to stabilize the remaining tooth and replace the lost portion. This should prevent any further damage. Do you have any teeth that look like this? Talk about them with your dentist….maybe you can avoid the problems this patient has had to endure.

Let’s look at some of the reasons for cracks. They can include:

1. Repetitive chewing on your teeth, day after day, which may develop cracks. Each time you chew on your teeth they flex slightly from the chewing force. This flexing over time can cause teeth to develop fine cracks (stress fractures).
2. A history of clenching or grinding (bruxing) teeth can result in cracks.
3. Chewing on hard substances or foods such as ice, popcorn kernels or candy.
4. Trauma to the mouth such as a blow below the chin or lower jaw.
5. As we’ve seen, large fillings, whether tooth colored or especially silver, can weaken the teeth resulting in tooth fracture.
If you grind your teeth or you chew on hard/chewy substances, as stated above, you have an increased chance of developing fractured teeth.

Same photo…but look at the ‘top’ of the tooth in the picture. Can you see the small ‘line’ that seems to touch the adjacent tooth? This tooth is cracked in multiple areas, but the only portion that broke off is at the bottom. I would bet the tooth was already fractured when it was filled with this composite (it was done before the patient came to my practice). In fact if you look at the recent posts below, you can see what this one probably looked like before the silver filling was replace.

Look here: