Hi. It’s Dr Michael Ghobrial here from Sure Dental at Wavell Heights in Brisbane.
Last week, my mate Tim from Newstead called me and said, ‘Hey Michael, I’ve cracked a bit of my tooth off. What do I do?’ I told him, ‘Well, get in the car and come see me.’ But I thought I’d make this video to help answer that question, just in case anyone also got into the same situation.
So… “I’ve cracked my tooth. What should I do?”
Well, obviously, the first obvious answer is to contact your dentist or a local dentist that can see you. Now, choose wisely where you want the treatment completed and try to wait to go there to actually be seen for the emergency. Because the first thing that needs to happen is the tooth needs to be assessed, and it needs someone to have a look and decide whether there’s enough tooth structure remaining to restore that tooth, and how it best be restored. Can you get away with a new filling there, or are you going to need a crown to hold the tooth together?
Also, the nerve needs to be tested to make sure it’s alive so that we can figure out whether we need any nerve treatment or root canal treatment before restoring the tooth, or whether we can go ahead and restore the tooth straight away. so you can see that the tooth does need to be assessed.
While you are on your way to the dentist, if that tooth is feeling really sensitive or a bit rough on your cheek, try to get some wax-like orthodontic wax to soften the edges, or even paste a bit of desensitising toothpaste in that area to try to take the edge off the sensitivity. But reach out to your dentist and get the tooth assessed as soon as possible.
Now, the best way to deal with a cracked tooth is actually taking the advice of a good dentist before the tooth actually breaks. So when your dentist is telling you about fractures that they’re seeing in your teeth, or when they’re saying they’re concerned about the structural integrity of a tooth, and maybe they’re considering protecting it with some sort of ceramic restoration or crown, well, the best thing to do is actually go ahead and protect that tooth before it breaks.
Because after it breaks, we are really at the mercy of what’s left behind. Whereas if it’s been protected before it breaks, there are lots of different options, and we can approach it strategically, so you don’t have that traumatic experience of, “Oh my goodness, a chunk of my tooth broke off. I need to get in somewhere as soon as possible.”
I hope I’ve given you some ideas on what to do if your tooth cracks. If you found yourself in that situation, and you are based in Brisbane, we would love to look after you.
Here at Sure Dental, we offer flexible payment plans, as well as helping patients apply for an early release of their super to fund their needed procedures, so you can restore your smile faster.
Simply contact us on 07 3113 9698, complete the form on our website, or reach out to us via our social media channels, and our friendly team will help you organise a consultation. See you in the next video.
