Nobody wants a cracked tooth. If you experience one, call a dentist immediately to fix it!
Now what could crack a tooth? While teeth are durable, and generally hold up well to all sorts of crunching, chewing and biting, sometimes there can be problems.
Physical Injury
One of the main reasons a tooth might crack is due to a physical injury. For example, a kid playing baseball without wearing a helmet gets hit in the mouth with a fastball– and a tooth cracks. Or an older person is playing tennis and trips and falls on the court, smashing their face on the ground, cracking a tooth. Sports injuries and unexpected falls on the face can crack teeth. As you’d imagine, a lot of boxers have to have cracked teeth fixed!
Teeth Grinding
Another reason a tooth might crack is because of nighttime teeth grinding, whereas a person is biting hard with their teeth, clenching them, without even realizing it (since they’re asleep) and that strong force causes a tooth to become cracked.
Pre-existing Conditions
What if you’re a person with large dental fillings, root canals and/or tooth decay? Those all make you more susceptible to cracked teeth. Anytime you have a weak tooth (erosion of enamel, loss of tooth structure), cracks can occur– this is especially true for older people. Also, if you experience acid reflux often, that acid may wear teeth down, making them more susceptible to cracks.
Biting Down on Hard Foods
Do you eat hard candy? Do you chew your ice cubes? Ever bite down hard on an un-popped popcorn kernel? If so, you may or may not have experienced a cracked tooth– these are all the kinds of things that cause cracks.
Dentists are used to dealing with cracked teeth. In the Genesee County area, you can call Genesee Dental at 585-343-1113 if you have a broken or cracked tooth and want it repaired.