When your healthy, natural tooth’s structure cracks or becomes damaged, the only way to prevent the damage from getting worse is to actively treat it. Even if the crack in your tooth’s surface seems minor, treating it as soon as possible could be necessary for preventing more serious complications with the tooth structure and your oral health. Fortunately, the right restorative treatment can help most people save their cracked or damaged teeth with optimal results, and in a way that helps them preserve a maximum amount of their healthy, natural tooth structure.
Why treating it as soon as possible matters
The importance of treating a cracked tooth involves saving your tooth from more extensive damage, which is vital to the main goal of preserving your healthy, natural tooth structure as much as possible. Because of the progressive nature of your tooth’s fracture, prompt treatment is especially important. If the fracture extends to the tooth’s root, then restoring and saving the tooth may no longer be possible. To protect the rest of your oral health, you may need to extract and replace the tooth and its fractured root with a dental implant-supported restoration.
Determining the extent of your tooth damage
While extensive tooth cracks can lead to severe consequences for your tooth and oral health, prompt treatment can help you mitigate those consequences and restore your tooth conservatively. The first step is to determine the extent of the tooth’s crack to gauge which treatment option can offer optimal results in the most minimally invasive manner. For example, some cracked teeth may be fully restored without the need for a full dental crown, allowing them to preserve even more of their natural tooth structure in the process.
Treating and saving the cracked tooth
If your tooth’s crack isn’t substantial, then we may be able to restore the tooth with treatment such as tooth bonding or a porcelain veneer, both of which are designed to accomplish maximum results with minimal changes to your tooth structure. Repairing your tooth with bonding or a veneer can help you reestablish the tooth’s health and structural integrity without having to fully cap the tooth with a more comprehensive dental crown. However, if your tooth’s fracture is significant enough, then a dental crown may be the best way to fully restore your tooth and avoid more significant damage in the future.
Learn how best to treat your cracked tooth
A cracked tooth could become a serious problem, but fortunately, you have a chance of restoring and saving the tooth with the right treatment. To learn more, schedule an appointment with us by calling Dreem Dentistry in Leawood, KS, today at 913-681-5500.
