Why my teeth are breaking into pieces?

Why my teeth are breaking into pieces? is one of the most asked questions by dental patients. Our permanent teeth are reliable, and they are designed to last for a lifetime. Tooth are not bones, Our teeth are made up of enamel, dentine, and pulp, where the enamel is the most durable substance in the body. Even bones are less stronger than enamel. 

However, everything has weak points, and teeth have weak points too. Teeth can break, fall, crack, or chip into small pieces. 

There are several ways in which your tooth can crack or break

• Sports injuries
• Biting something hard
• Accidents 
• Fighting 
• Falling 
• Nighttime teeth grinding 
• Old tooth fillings that do not support the tooth 
• Using teeth as a tool to open bags, causes damages 

The above reasons are just a few, but bad habits that you are following long term can cause damage to your teeth.

• Eating sugar-rich foods can cause the growth of bacteria in your mouth leads to weak your teeth
• Improper brushing and flossing resulting accumulation of plaque between teeth and it damage your tooth enamel
• night time teeth grinding or unconscious teeth grinding can cause damage to enamel cause damage to teeth
• Eating acidic foods, spicy foods or caffeine without limit can cause damage to the enamel and teeth to start to chip
• When filling, the tooth needs to drill clean the cavity. Large fillings can cause damage to your teeth over time
•  Gastroesophageal reflux causes heartburn and acid reflux; therefore stomach acid can flow up to the mouth.acid can cause damage to tooth enamel causing damaged teeth
• Lip or tongue Piercing slams can cause chipping or break your teeth
• Lack of nutrients can directly affect your teeth 

Symptoms of a broken tooth

Sometimes, a broken tooth makes no pain. Teeth with minor breaks do not make any pain, but massive fractures cause extreme pain because the nerve inside may be damaged.

You can easily recognize a broken tooth by a sharp edge that wasn’t there before on the tooth, slight or extreme pain, and you can be observed visual crack or break. 

Symptoms of an untreated chipped or broken tooth include,

• Pain when eating or drinking. It is because of damaged nerves and blood vessels
• Fever
• Swallow and irritations in the gum around the broken or chipped tooth
• Bad taste or bad breath in the mouth
• High sensitivity to cold, hot foods
• Pain when touching the broken tooth with the tongue
• Pain when chewing because it puts the pressure on the tooth

What you can do when your tooth is cracked, chipped or broken

Whenever you notice a broken tooth or faced an accident resulting in broken, chipped, or cracked teeth, the best option is to meet the dentist as soon as possible.

Your dentist is the only one who can figure out the seriousness of the injury and the treatment. So here are some remedies to follow when an injury happens to your teeth.

• Rinse with warm salt water thoroughly to keep it clean
• Take pain killers to avoid the pain
• If you notice irritation or swallow around the broken or chipped tooth; keep ice outside of your cheek
• Apply clove oil around the irritated or swollen gums
• Don’t use broken or chipped tooth to chew or bite
• If it bleeds keep a piece of cotton wool or gauze to apply pressure until bleeding stops
• Use temporary dental cement to cover the broken tooth until you take the necessary medications
• Cover the broken piece of tooth with saliva, milk or saline

Your chipped or broken tooth never going to regrow.

Think about it;

That is so unfortunate. That is the reason why you should have medical care immediately. 

Just because your broken tooth cannot regrow, it does not mean that your tooth cannot be restored to the standard functions again. 

Here is the best part. 

How to fix your damaged teeth

Cracked teeth

If it is a mild or minor crack, you may not need treatment. But it is safe to visit your dentist. Minor cracks are only affecting the white, outermost surface called enamel. Even though it may not feel pain. The dentist can polish and smooth the cracked area to even the rough edges of the crack. 

Furthermore, the crack may be more severe; for example, the whole tooth can be damaged due to the crack. The crack could be spread from chewing surfaces down to the pulp, where the nerves and blood vessels placed. It causes bleeding and extreme pain. 

According to the severity, the crack can be filled with filling material to prevent from spreading the crack. Otherwise, if the pulp is damaged, you need a tooth bonding, such as a root canal. 

Chipped teeth

If the chip is too small, your dentist may smooth the chipped area by polishing. You don’t need treatment for small chips, but it is better to get advice from your doctor. 

Sometimes your chewing surface of the tooth called cusp could be damaged or broken during an injury. If the pulp is not damaged, it does not cause much pain. A dentist treats your tooth to regain the shape by an inlay or onlay. An inlay fills the area between cusps while onlays cover the cusps of the tooth. If the chipped area is large, you will need a crown. Crown covers the entire chewing area of the tooth. 

Severe breaks of teeth

This type of damage can open the dentine where the nerves and blood vessels lie in. Obviously, yes, your broken tooth will bleed and cause much pain.

These severe breaks need to be treated with root canal treatment and crown treatment. As it turns out worst, your dentist can use root canal treatment to cover the exposed nerve and crown treatment to cover the chewing surface of the tooth to recover to normal function. 

Sometimes the internal cavities can cause teeth to break. The reason is the cavities weaken the teeth by decaying the inside of the tooth. You should probably have the help of the dentist to treat cavities. Tooth filling can restore the teeth damaged cavities and decaying. 

And we don’t stop there;

After you got the treatments, you should take care of your treated teeth more than ever. 

• You should avoid eating hard foods delicate to chew
• Better to rely on juices or soft foods
• Wash your mouth with warm salt water thrice a day to destroy the bacteria
• Avoid consuming alcohol, tobacco or smoking
• Keep away the acidic and carbonated drinks 
• Use soft brush strokes when brushing your teeth
• When you floss your teeth; take care of the treated tooth

You can save your teeth from injuries by wearing mouth guards. Following a good oral hygiene routine and consuming necessary nutrients makes your teeth stronger.  

Broken, chipped, or cracked tooth is the most common injuries. But it is so important to have the treatments as soon as possible to limit further dental problems.