Sometimes, dental health concerns aren’t exactly obvious. For instance, if you develop tooth decay or gum disease, you might not notice it right away, and therefore, you may not realize that you need treatment for it. However, when a tooth breaks, the damage is usually noticeable, and you may likely know the moment it happens. Today, we explain why a broken tooth is such a serious concern for your oral health, and what you can do to maximize your chances of successfully saving the tooth.

Why treating it now matters

When you develop a chronic dental concern like tooth decay or gum disease, treating it as soon as possible is important, even if you don’t notice its development right away. This stops the condition from getting worse and threatening more of your oral health. Like decay, a break in your tooth’s structure will also get worse the longer it’s untreated. However, the danger to the tooth’s health and integrity can be much more severe, much faster, than a progressing case of tooth decay. Once the tooth breaks, it can no longer function as well as it needs to sustain your bite’s pressure, and the tooth may become severely compromised before long.

Restoring your tooth’s health and integrity

Restoring your tooth’s ability to bite and chew properly without sustaining further damage is a key goal in fixing a broken tooth. By restoring the tooth’s damaged structure and its ability to withstand your bite pressure, you can successfully preserve the remaining healthy, natural structure of the tooth. For example, for many teeth that experience a break in their main structure, a custom-designed dental crown can help fully restore the tooth and reduce its risks of being lost or needing extraction in the future.

Avoid further tooth damage

If a broken tooth is allowed to sustain even more damage, there’s a chance that the tooth might not be able to be restored or saved past a certain point. For example, if most or all of the tooth’s visible crown structure is compromised, it might not be enough to support a dental crown to fix it. If the tooth’s root becomes fractured or broken, then it may need to be extracted and replaced to restore your smile. To help avoid further damage to your tooth, it’s important to seek treatment for the break as soon as possible.

Call us if your tooth breaks

When a tooth breaks, the discomfort it causes and the threat it poses to your oral health might be more serious than you realize. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling the Dental Centre of Conroe in Conroe, TX, today at (936) 441-4600. We serve patients from Conroe and all neighboring communities.