Keep any fragment in milk, cover a sharp edge so it does not cut your tongue, and get it assessed — even if it does not hurt. A chip can extend further than it looks, and a crack that is not visible at all can be the reason a tooth has been painful to bite on for months.
What to do straight away
- Find the fragment if you can and keep it in milk or saliva. A clean piece can sometimes be bonded back on, which gives a perfect match.
- Rinse gently with warm water.
- Control any bleeding from the gum or lip with gentle pressure using clean gauze.
- Cover a sharp edge with orthodontic wax or sugar-free chewing gum until you can be seen.
- Cold compress on the outside of the face if there is swelling.
- Avoid chewing on it, and avoid very hot or cold food and drink.
- Ordinary pain relief if needed, at the recommended dose.
- Contact us — the same day if any of the urgent signs below apply.
How serious is it?
Minor: a small chip in enamel
No pain, a small rough edge. Not urgent, but worth having smoothed or repaired — a rough edge catches the tongue and a chip can propagate.
Moderate: enamel and dentine
Often sensitive to cold and air, and the exposed surface may look yellower than the enamel around it. Needs restoring reasonably promptly, because exposed dentine is a route for bacteria towards the nerve.
Serious: the nerve is exposed
A pink or red spot visible in the middle of the broken surface, usually with significant pain. Same-day treatment. The tooth can frequently be saved, and the chances are much better the sooner it is treated.
Serious: a split or fracture below the gum
Severe pain on biting, a piece that moves, or visible fracture running down towards the root. May or may not be savable — an examination and radiograph decide.
Urgent regardless: trauma
If the tooth was broken by a blow to the face, be assessed the same day even if the damage looks small. The tooth may also have been displaced or the nerve damaged, and there may be injury beyond the tooth. If there was any loss of consciousness, vomiting or confusion, seek medical attention first.
The repair options
Smoothing and polishing for a very small chip.
Composite bonding for small to moderate damage — one appointment, usually no tooth removed, repairable later.
Reattaching the fragment where you have it and it fits.
An onlay or a crown where a substantial portion is gone, particularly on a back tooth carrying chewing load.
A veneer where the front surface is involved and the damage is largely aesthetic.
Root canal treatment first where the nerve is exposed or has been damaged, followed by a restoration.
Extraction where the tooth has split below the gum and cannot be restored — the least likely outcome, and the one worth a second opinion.
See also fixing a chipped or worn front tooth for front-tooth cases.
Cracked teeth: the ones that are hard to find
A particular category deserves its own mention, because it frustrates patients for months. A cracked tooth may have no visible damage at all. The classic symptoms are:
- Sharp pain on biting, especially on releasing the bite.
- Pain that comes and goes and is difficult to locate — you may not be able to say which tooth.
- Sensitivity to cold in one tooth.
- Discomfort only with certain foods or at certain angles.
Cracks often do not show on radiographs. Diagnosis relies on bite tests, transillumination, examining the tooth under magnification and sometimes removing an existing filling to look underneath. If you have had vague, intermittent pain on biting for months and nothing has been found, say specifically that it hurts when you release the bite — that symptom is a strong pointer.
Treated early, a cracked tooth can often be protected with a crown before the crack propagates. Left, cracks tend to extend, and a crack that reaches below the bone is what makes a tooth unsavable.
Why teeth break
Rarely at random. The usual reasons: a large existing filling leaving thin walls of tooth; a root-treated tooth that was never crowned; grinding and clenching; biting something hard — ice, olive stones, popcorn kernels, bones; using teeth as tools; and acid erosion thinning the enamel over years.
If you have broken more than one tooth, the cause is worth finding rather than just repairing the damage.
Frequently asked questions
It does not hurt. Do I still need to go?
Yes. Exposed dentine is a route for bacteria, and the extent is often greater than it looks.
Can I use temporary filling material from a pharmacy?
As a short-term measure to cover a sharp edge until you can be seen, it is reasonable. It is not a treatment.
Will it need a crown?
Depends how much tooth is left and which tooth it is. Back teeth carrying heavy load more often do.
The filling fell out rather than the tooth breaking.
Keep the area clean, avoid chewing on it, and book promptly. An unprotected cavity deteriorates quickly.
How quickly do I need to be seen?
Same day if the nerve is exposed, if there was facial trauma, or if pain is severe. Within days otherwise.
Get it looked at
Most broken teeth are repairable, and the sooner the better. See our general dentistry page and dental emergencies.
To reach our clinic on Abbas El-Akkad in Nasr City, call +20 101 969 7597 or message us on WhatsApp.
