Cracked Tooth

Syndrome of Cracked tooth can also be called as syndrome of cracked cusp, syndrome of split tooth or a tooth getting an incomplete fracture. But the tooth will be cracked but not yet broken off completely. Cracked tooth is also known as greenstick fracture and the symptom differs much and thus the diagnosis is also really difficult.

The fracture or the crack which has been developed on the tooth may vary in depth and we cannot predict the direction in which it will grow. This may affect the pulp or / and the periodontal ligament.

This can be identified by the presence of the following

1.  Sharp pain felt when a particular tooth is stressed or used to bite
2.  Rebound pain that is felt when the tooth is released from the bite or stress
3.  Pain felt when the tooth is ground in the direction back to front or vice versa or to the sides.
4.  Pain felt when any sugary food materials are eaten

This kind of pain may be localised too and the patient undergoing the pain in such circumstances will be able to identify the tooth which is suffering from this condition, but this case does not happen always.

While chewing some food, the tooth or teeth in which the crack is found will start paining. This is because, when stress is given to the affected tooth, the two adjacent sides of the crack in the tooth moves a little away from each other and when the stress is released, they come back together and this motion results in pain. If not treated early, the crack may develop in depth and also in any direction and might affect the pulp causing even the death of the pulp. This can be treated by stabilisation in which the core is build, the crown restoration, root canal therapy or else extraction of the affected tooth.

Authored By Dr.C.M.Bejoy Mony, M.D.S.