If you’ve cracked a tooth, rinse your mouth gently with warm water, take an over-the-counter pain reliever, and call your dentist to get seen as soon as possible. Most cracked teeth can be saved if treated quickly, but waiting days or weeks raises the risk of infection and can turn a simple repair into an extraction.
What you should do next depends on how bad the crack is, whether you’re in pain, and how deep the damage goes. Here’s how to handle each stage.
Immediate Steps at Home
Start by rinsing with warm salt water to clean the area and reduce bacteria around the crack. If the tooth is sharp or jagged, you can cover it with a small piece of sugar-free gum or dental wax to protect your tongue and cheek. Avoid chewing on that side of your mouth entirely.
For pain, ibuprofen works well because it reduces both pain and swelling. Apply a cold pack to the outside of your cheek in 15-minute intervals if you notice any swelling. Avoid very hot, very cold, or sweet foods and drinks, as cracked teeth are often acutely sensitive to temperature changes and sugar. These triggers can cause a sharp, shooting pain that’s distinct from a normal toothache.
Do not try to wiggle the tooth or test the crack by biting down on it. Every time the crack flexes open and closed, it can extend deeper into the root.
How to Tell How Serious It Is
Not all cracks are the same. Dentists classify tooth fractures into five categories, and the type you have determines everything about your treatment.
- Craze lines are tiny, shallow cracks in the outer enamel. Nearly every adult has them. They don’t hurt, don’t need treatment, and are purely cosmetic.
- Fractured cusp means a piece of the chewing surface has broken off, usually around a filling. It rarely affects the nerve and typically just needs a crown.
- Cracked tooth is a crack that runs vertically from the chewing surface down toward the root. This is the most common type people search for. It may or may not reach the nerve.
- Split tooth means the crack has gone all the way through, separating the tooth into two distinct segments. This usually can’t be saved in one piece.
- Vertical root fracture starts in the root and moves upward. These are the hardest to detect and carry the worst prognosis, with extraction being the most common outcome.
The telltale sign of a true crack (not just a craze line) is sharp pain when you bite down, especially pain that hits when you release the bite. If you notice that pattern, your crack likely extends beyond the surface.
What Your Dentist Will Do
Your dentist will examine the tooth visually, probe around it, and likely take X-rays. They may also use a bite test, asking you to bite down on a small stick placed on different parts of the tooth to pinpoint exactly where the crack is. Some cracks are invisible on standard X-rays, so your dentist may use a special dye, a fiber-optic light, or a cone-beam CT scan to find the full extent of the fracture.
Treatment depends entirely on how deep the crack goes and whether it has reached the pulp, the soft tissue inside the tooth that contains nerves and blood vessels.
Minor Cracks: Bonding or Veneer
If the crack is small, shallow, and limited to the enamel, dental bonding is the simplest fix. Your dentist applies a tooth-colored resin directly to the crack, sculpts it into shape, and hardens it with a light. The whole process takes one visit and typically costs $300 to $400 per tooth. Bonding isn’t permanent, though. It can chip or stain over time and usually needs touch-ups or replacement every few years.
For a front tooth where appearance matters more, a veneer is a more durable option. Veneers are thin shells bonded to the front of the tooth. They resist staining better than bonding and last 10 to 15 years with proper care, but they cost significantly more.
Moderate Cracks: Crown
When the crack is larger or involves a cusp, a dental crown is the standard treatment. The crown caps the entire visible portion of the tooth, holding it together and preventing the crack from spreading further. Crowns typically cost between $1,150 and $1,750 per tooth and require two visits: one to prepare the tooth and take impressions, and a second to place the permanent crown. Some offices with in-house milling machines can do it in a single appointment.
Deep Cracks: Root Canal Plus Crown
If the crack has reached the pulp, bacteria will eventually infect it. At that point, a root canal is necessary to remove the damaged tissue inside the tooth before placing a crown on top. The root canal itself adds to the overall cost, but it saves the tooth. You can expect the combined procedure to take two or three appointments spread over a few weeks.
Severe Cracks: Extraction
A split tooth or vertical root fracture that extends along the length of the root is often beyond saving. When the crack compromises the structural integrity of the root itself, especially if it involves multiple surfaces, extraction is the most reliable option. After extraction, you can replace the tooth with an implant, bridge, or partial denture.
Long-Term Outlook for Treated Teeth
A cracked tooth that’s treated early has a reasonable long-term survival rate, but it’s not a guarantee. A retrospective study of over 200 cracked teeth that received root canals found a 66% survival rate at 10 years and 55% at 15 years. Teeth that had no significant gum pocket depth before treatment fared considerably better: 76% survival at 10 years and 64% at 15 years.
The takeaway is that catching a crack before it causes deep tissue damage meaningfully improves your odds of keeping the tooth long-term. A tooth with early-stage cracking and healthy surrounding tissue has a much better prognosis than one that’s been painful for weeks.
What Happens If You Wait Too Long
A crack in a tooth is an open door for bacteria. Once bacteria reach the pulp, they can cause an infection that leads to a dental abscess, a pocket of pus that forms at the root of the tooth. Symptoms of an abscess include throbbing pain, swelling in the jaw or face, fever, and a foul taste in your mouth.
Left untreated, the infection doesn’t stay local. It can spread into the jawbone, down into the neck and throat, or into the sinus cavities behind your cheeks. In rare but serious cases, it can lead to sepsis, a body-wide infection that can be life-threatening. People with weakened immune systems face an even higher risk of the infection spreading.
The progression from crack to abscess isn’t always fast. Some cracks simmer for weeks or months with intermittent pain before an abscess develops. But by the time an abscess forms, you’ve lost treatment options. A tooth that could have been saved with a crown now needs a root canal. A tooth that could have been saved with a root canal now needs to come out.
Preventing Future Cracks
If you grind or clench your teeth at night, a condition called bruxism, you’re at significantly higher risk of cracking teeth. The repeated pressure weakens enamel over time until a fracture finally occurs. A custom-fitted night guard from your dentist is the most effective prevention. Store-bought guards are cheaper but provide less protection and don’t fit as precisely. If you’ve already cracked one tooth from grinding, getting a night guard is worth prioritizing to protect the rest.
Other practical steps: don’t chew ice, hard candy, or non-food objects like pen caps. Be cautious with popcorn kernels and olive pits. If you play contact sports, wear a mouthguard. And if you have large, old fillings, ask your dentist whether crowning those teeth proactively makes sense, since teeth with big fillings are structurally weaker and more prone to fracture.