Teeth are incredible strong. So when a tooth breaks, something went wrong. The following are the main reasons a tooth might have broken:
A cavity weakens a tooth. Even if you can’t see the cavity, it could be eating away at the tooth on the inside, then one day, the tooth will collapse. For more information on how to stop cavities, please read “Five Tips to Help You Improve Your Oral Health”. A tooth with a large cavity may require root canal treatment or extraction if the cavity is severe enough. In other cases, a simple filling may suffice.
Commonly seen with front teeth, injuries to the teeth can cause a variety of problems. This includes chipping, nerve injury (where the tooth will get dark over time), breaking of the tooth root, or sometimes the tooth will come completely out. For injuries to a tooth like this, it may be necessary to perform treatment on the root canal of the tooth. Other times, a simple tooth-colored filling is all that is needed.
If someone grinds and clenches, there is a possibility that a tooth will break. This process happens over a long period of time (i.e. a crack will slowly propagate through the tooth much like a crack spreads across the windshield of a car). Typically this kind of crack occurs on the very back teeth, which take the most force of your bite. If we catch the crack soon enough, there are ways to prevent the tooth from completely cracking in half. Grinding may also be a sign of sleep apnea. Read more about sleep apnea.
Front teeth often show signs of wear and tear. If your front teeth start to get jagged, or small little pieces break off the edges of your front teeth frequently, this could just be the result of wear and tear. Other factors which influence this include using your teeth inappropriately (e.g. opening packages, etc.), a deep overbite, or a bite where the edges of your top teeth naturally hit against the edges of your bottom front teeth.