Wisdom teeth have never been known for their cooperative qualities. If you're one of the lucky few, your wisdom teeth will emerge in adult life, gleaming, straight and pain free. For many others, wisdom teeth fight for space in the mouth or emerge crooked, placing great pressure on the teeth that surround them, causing excruciating pain and sometimes even breaking.

Broken tooth repair

Your teeth can break for any number of reasons, from sporting accidents and car crashes to weakness in the tooth caused by illness, and any time a tooth breaks, it's important to see your dentist right away. In most cases, your dentist will be able to repair a broken tooth using the amalgam used in fillings. In cases of more serious damage, a crown might also need to be placed on top of the tooth to keep the repair work secure. If you're really unlucky, and the damage to your tooth has affected not only the tooth itself but the blood vessels and nerves supporting it, you may be looking at a root canal to save your tooth.

Importance of treatment

If you have a broken tooth, it is vital to get the help of your dentist right away. Ignoring the pain can lead to a host of greater problems, including:

  • Decay, both in the broken tooth and in the teeth surrounding it.
  • Bacterial tooth infections, as bacteria make their way inside your cracked tooth.
  • Infected gums and jaw, as the infection spreads to other parts of your mouth.
  • Serious bodily illnesses of the lungs, heart and brain, as oral bacteria infiltrate the bloodstream.

When wisdom teeth break

Wisdom teeth are notoriously hard to access, lying as they do at the very back corners of your mouth, and because they emerge later in life than the rest of your teeth, the pulp that sustains your wisdom teeth is also more fully formed than the nerves and roots supporting your other adult teeth, making repair work highly complicated. Many people don't rely on their wisdom teeth to chew, due to the position of these teeth in the mouth, and after a break wisdom tooth removal is often the most effective way to quickly get you back on track and avoid further problems in the future.

Whether you are facing problems with your wisdom teeth or another tooth has broken, your dentist can work efficiently and professionally to offer you toothache relief and to repair the damage or extract the tooth. It may be unpleasant or even painful, but once you've received professional treatment you'll be glad you did.

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