A dental fracture is an injury that occurs in one or more parts of the mouth due to a blow, after chewing something excessively hard, or due to multiple circumstances. There are several types of dental fractures depending on the degree of damage they have on the tooth itself. Fortunately, today, all of them are treatable, even in a single visit to the dentist.
Types of dental fractures
As we have just mentioned, there are various types of dental fractures that affect the tooth in different ways. Among the most common, we find the following:
- Enamel fracture: fracture restricted to the enamel with loss of tooth structure.
- Enamel infringement: incomplete fracture without loss of tooth structure.
- Enamel and dentin fracture: a loss of tooth structure occurs, without pulp damage.
- Fracture of enamel and dentin with loss of tooth structure and exposure of the pulp.
- Crown fracture without pulp involvement: affects enamel, dentin and cement with loss of tooth structure, but without pulp damage.
- Crown fracture with pulp involvement: fracture that affects enamel, dentin and cement with loss of tooth structure and pulp.
- Root fracture: it is one of the most serious, since it affects cementum, dentin and pulp. Root fractures can be classified based on whether the coronal fragment is displaced or not (i.e., whether or not there are dislocations).
- Alveolar fracture: it is the most serious and painful, since it involves the alveolus. Teeth with alveolar fractures are characterized by movement of the piece.
Solutions and treatments for a dental fracture
As soon as a blow or accident occurs that affects the oral cavity, it is essential to assess the damage that has occurred and, to do so, the best recommendation is to go to a specialist. If you cannot go immediately, the first recommendations to follow are the following:
- Rinse with salt water.
- If the breakage has caused a sharp edge, cover the tooth with wax, paraffin, or chewing gum to prevent the tooth from causing damage to your tongue, inner cheek, or lip.
- If you have pain, take a pain reliever or anti-inflammatory.
- Don’t eat hard foods. If you have no choice but to eat, choose soft foods and avoid biting with a broken tooth.
Resin or porcelain inlays
This is one of the most common treatments that professionals use in case of minor tooth fracture. Porcelain inlays are composed solely of glass ceramic. To design them, an impression is taken of the rest of the healthy tooth and the part of the tooth that has been lost is made. It is then cemented over the rest. Thanks to biocompatibility, color stability and good mechanical resistance, inlays are an advance in conservative aesthetic dentistry that can be an alternative to crowns when the tooth has sufficient dental structure despite having suffered a blow.
The porcelain inlay, in addition to replacing lost dental structures, must preserve what remains of them.
Dental crowns are designed to protect and improve the appearance of the tooth. They are individual restorations for each tooth, covering and reconstructing it in its entirety. Permanent crowns can be made of metal, porcelain fused to metal, resin or ceramic.
Metal crowns are very resistant, but if you want to opt for a natural appearance, it is best to opt for porcelain and resin crowns, since they provide a result that is practically identical to that of the original tooth.
dental veneers
It is the treatment that is applied when the fracture has only affected the tooth aesthetically. It consists of placing a thin layer of material that covers the front part of the affected teeth. There are two types of veneers: porcelain veneers, thin, custom-made sheets that are cemented onto the teeth, or composite veneers, which are made from a resin paste that is modeled on the tooth.
If the fracture or damage has been so severe that the pulp has been exposed (the center of the tooth that contains the nerves and blood vessels), it can be affected by bacteria and lead to a major infection. To end this problem, the best solution is to perform a root canal, that is, extract the dead pulp, clean the root canal and finally seal it. This treatment always has to be performed by a specialized endodontist.
Dental implants
This is the most indicated solution today for a dental fracture when the damage endangers the entire tooth. To do this, if the conditions are ideal, you can opt for treatment with immediate loading implants so that the patient leaves the consultation with their teeth replaced the same day.
Until a few years ago, it was necessary to wait a few months after tooth extraction to be able to place the dental implant. Immediate loading dental implants currently allow these periods to be reduced and the “osseointegration” process to begin on the same day as the extraction.
Contact us if you have any problem
At Chagger Dental we have been treating patients who have had some type of dental fracture for various reasons for years. This makes us experts, not only in diagnosing its severity, but also in its solution. Therefore, if you suffer from a dental fracture, we recommend that you make an appointment and come to our office as soon as possible to evaluate your case and perform the most effective treatment to solve your problem.
