cracked tooth

Nanazolie

Hi

Seems that my clenching has done big damages. One thing after another, I should move in with my dentist... :rolleyes:

The latest in the saga is a cracked wisdom tooth (bottom), I visited VHI dental with a pain when chewing (no pain otherwise). He X rayed it and the roots are fine, there is no decay (there was a filling on top already). He asked me to bite on a plastic thing, and diagnosed a cracked tooth, even though the crack is not visible (to the eye or on the X ray). He advised to remove the filling a put a dressing and see how it would progress. If it feels better, I'll just have the filling redone.

I remember asking the question, but may be it's the sedation, I can't remember the answer. If the pain doesn't get better, do I absolutely have to have the tooth extracted or can a root canal fix the problem? And if there is a root canal, do I need a crown?

Also, what are the odds for a cracked tooth to get better with a dressing?

Thanks

georgieporgy

Cracked teeth (at the back of the mouth) generally need to be crowned. Sometimes a root canal is also necessary.

On rare occasions you may get by with a new filling. (depends on the crack). Removing the old filling makes it easier to see the extent of the crack. I'm not sure putting in a temp dressing will be of any benefit other than buying a little time to make a decision.

Nanazolie

georgieporgy wrote: »

Cracked teeth (at the back of the mouth) generally need to be crowned. Sometimes a root canal is also necessary.

On rare occasions you may get by with a new filling. (depends on the crack). Removing the old filling makes it easier to see the extent of the crack. I'm not sure putting in a temp dressing will be of any benefit other than buying a little time to make a decision.

Why then did he say that it might (although he stressed that it might not) improve things?
Thanks for your answer. Another question: because it's a wisdom tooth, would it not be easier to remove it altogether rather than opting for a crown that only has a limited life time?

georgieporgy

I can't really speak for your dentist. And he does have an advantage over me insofar as he has seen your tooth. My response to you was just a "general" statement.

It would be a pity to extract the tooth though. Most of your chewing is done on the back molar teeth. Easy is not necessarily better.