Chipped tooth
A small piece of enamel has come off the edge, most often on a front tooth. Usually painless, but the sharp edge can cut your tongue or lip.
Tooth-coloured bonding
# Broken Tooth
Broken, Chipped or Cracked Tooth
A broken tooth won't heal on its own. Whether it is a small chip, a crack or a piece that has snapped off, rinse your mouth with warm water, keep any broken piece in milk, and see a dentist within a day or two, or the same day if it hurts badly. Most broken teeth can be saved with bonding, a crown or a root canal.
How Do I Know If My Tooth Is Cracked or Broken?
Some breaks are obvious; a crack can be invisible and still hurt. These are the signs to look out for:
Your tongue keeps finding a rough edge or a gap that wasn't there before, and it may catch on your cheek or lip.
A sharp pain that comes as you release a bite is the classic sign of a cracked tooth. The crack opens under pressure and snaps shut again.
Once the enamel breaks, the softer layer underneath is exposed, so cold water, tea or sweets can bring a sudden twinge.
A cracked tooth often hurts on and off rather than all the time, which makes it easy to ignore and hard to pin down to one tooth.
Swelling, a bad taste or a small boil on the gum means bacteria have got in through the break and an infection is forming. Get it seen soon.
A small chip in the enamel often doesn't hurt. A large break with no pain can also mean the nerve has already died. Either way, the tooth still needs checking.
Cracks don't always show up on an X-ray. A dentist can find one by testing each tooth with a bite stick and a bright light.
Book a Free ConsultationIs My Tooth Chipped, Cracked or Broken?
The type of break decides how it is fixed. These are the six a dentist sees most often, and the treatment each one usually needs:
Broken cusp
One of the pointed corners of a back tooth has snapped off, often around an old filling. It may only hurt when you chew.
Dental crownsCracked tooth
A crack runs down from the biting surface towards the root. It hurts when you bite or let go, and the crack spreads if it is left.
Dental crownsTooth broken by a cavity
Decay has hollowed the tooth out until half of it gives way, often while eating something soft. The nerve is usually involved.
Root canal treatmentSplit tooth or broken below the gum
The tooth has split into two parts, or broken off at or under the gum line. These often cannot be saved and need careful removal.
Surgical tooth extractionTooth knocked out or lost
After a fall or a blow the whole tooth has come out, or a broken tooth had to be removed. The gap is best filled before the teeth beside it drift.
Dental implantsWhat Should I Do If My Tooth Breaks?
Until you can see a dentist, these steps ease the pain and protect what is left of the tooth:
- Rinse your mouth gently with warm water. If the gum is bleeding, press a clean gauze or cloth on it for 10 minutes.
- Find any broken piece and keep it in a little milk or your own saliva. Bring it with you, as it can sometimes be bonded back on.
- Hold a cold compress or ice wrapped in a cloth against your cheek for 15 minutes to bring down swelling.
- Take an over-the-counter painkiller such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, as directed on the pack. Never put a tablet on the gum, as it burns the tissue.
- Cover a sharp edge with sugar-free chewing gum or dental wax from a pharmacy, so it doesn’t cut your tongue or cheek.
- Eat soft food on the other side of your mouth, and avoid very hot, very cold, sweet and hard food until it is fixed.
- If a whole adult tooth is knocked out, hold it by the crown, not the root, rinse it briefly and keep it in milk. See a dentist within the hour.
Temporary repair kits from a pharmacy only cover the break for a few days. They don't stop a crack from spreading, so book a dentist as well.
Is a Broken Tooth an Emergency?
Not always. This is how to tell whether it can wait a day or two or needs a dentist today:
Can wait a day or two
- A small chip with no pain
- A rough edge that only bothers your tongue
- Mild sensitivity to cold that settles quickly
- A lost filling with no pain or swelling
See a dentist today if
- Severe pain, or pain that keeps you awake
- Bleeding that won’t stop after 10 minutes of pressure
- Swelling in your face or gum, or a fever
- A whole tooth knocked out, or a pink or red spot in the break
Broken but no pain? It still needs a check-up, as a painless break can mean the nerve has already died. If the injury also hurt your jaw or face, go to a hospital emergency department first. Book an appointment.
How Do Dentists Fix a Broken Tooth?
After an examination and an X-ray, the dentist picks the smallest repair that will last. These are the treatments we use for broken teeth at DentoCorrect:
Composite Bonding
Tooth-coloured resin rebuilds a chipped edge in a single visit, shaded to blend in with the rest of your smile.
Dental Crown
A cap covers a tooth that is badly broken or cracked, holds it together and gives you back a strong biting surface.
Root Canal Treatment
When the break reaches the nerve, the nerve is cleaned out and sealed so the tooth can be kept and crowned.
Extraction and Implant
A tooth that has split or broken below the gum is removed gently, and an implant replaces it like a natural tooth.
Why Choose DentoCorrect for a Broken Tooth?
DentoCorrect is Pakistan's ISO-certified, multi-city dental clinic network with qualified dentists at every location. Here is what sets us apart:
Qualified, Registered Dentists
Experienced dentists at every DentoCorrect clinic
We Try to Save the Tooth First
Bonding, crowns and root canals before extraction is ever considered
ISO-Certified Standards
Strict safety and sterilisation protocols at every clinic
Natural-Looking Repairs
Bonding and crowns shade-matched to your own teeth
Transparent Treatment Plans
You'll know what's needed and what it costs before we begin
Conveniently Located Across Pakistan
Lahore (Johar Town, Gulberg & DHA), Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Faisalabad, Peshawar, and Multan
# FAQ'S
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Enamel has no living cells, so a chip or crack cannot grow back or seal itself. Left alone, a break tends to get bigger with every bite, and bacteria can get in through it and reach the nerve. Pain that settles doesn't mean the tooth has healed.
Most can. Chips are rebuilt with tooth-coloured bonding, larger breaks are covered with a crown, and a break that reaches the nerve is treated with a root canal before the crown goes on. A tooth usually has to be removed only when it has split down the middle or broken well below the gum line.
It is an emergency if you have severe pain, bleeding that won't stop, swelling in your face or gum, a fever, or if the whole tooth has been knocked out. A small chip with no pain is not an emergency, but it should still be seen within a few days.
Yes. A break with no pain may only have affected the enamel, but it can also mean the nerve inside has already died. In both cases the tooth is weaker and the break can spread, so a check-up and an X-ray are worth having before it turns into a toothache.
Rinse your mouth with warm water, keep the broken piece in a little milk, hold a cold compress on your cheek if it is swollen, and see a dentist the same day or the next. Depending on how deep the break goes, the tooth may be saved with a root canal and a crown.
Don't try to remove the root yourself. A dentist will take an X-ray to see whether enough of the root is healthy to hold a post and crown. If it isn't, the root is taken out under local anaesthetic, and the gap can later be filled with an implant or a bridge.
Often, yes. A chipped front tooth can usually be rebuilt with composite bonding in a single appointment, with the shade matched to your other teeth. A larger break that needs a crown normally takes two visits, with a temporary crown in between.
It depends on how badly the tooth is broken. Bonding a small chip costs far less than a crown, and a break that also needs a root canal or an implant costs more. At DentoCorrect the dentist checks the tooth first and gives you the full cost before any treatment starts.
Yes. Treating a broken or painful tooth is safe in pregnancy and better than leaving an infection untreated. Tell your dentist that you are pregnant; routine work is often planned for the second trimester, but a painful or infected tooth can be treated at any stage.
A broken tooth is commonly described as daant toot jana (دانت ٹوٹ جانا) in Urdu. Dentists call it a tooth fracture, and a crack that hurts when you bite is known as cracked tooth syndrome.