Types of Cracks You Can Get on Your Teeth
Posted on: 14 June 2018
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When you hear people talk about cracked teeth, you might picture a huge crack running down the tooth. While this is one type of crack a tooth can get, this is not the only type. There are actually many types of cracks teeth can get, but most types require treatment. Here are some of the most common types of cracks people develop on their teeth.
Craze line cracks
A very common, but not extremely serious, type of crack you can get on a tooth is called a craze line crack. Craze line cracks are not considered serious types of cracks, and they are very common, especially with older people. Craze line cracks do not need to be treated, and they do not cause problems.
Craze lines are typically small vertical lines that you can see on your teeth, and they develop from normal things you do in life. For example, if your bite is off just a little bit, it can lead to craze lines on the teeth. People also develop these from clenching and grinding their teeth while sleeping and from opening up packages and other things with their teeth. If you have these lines on your teeth, your dentist will likely tell you that you have nothing to worry about.
Fractured cusp crack
All of your teeth have things on them called cusps, but your molar teeth have more cusps than other teeth in your mouth. A cusp is a pointed part of a tooth, and this part helps you chew hard things and take bites of food. A typical molar tooth will have four or five cusps on it, while a canine tooth may have just one. If one of the cusps on a tooth breaks off, your dentist will call this a fractured cusp. Your dentist might suggest doing nothing to treat the problem, or he or she might suggest using bonding to recreate the missing cusp.
Cracked tooth
When a tooth actually gets cracked and you can see the crack running from the root all the way up, it is an actual cracked tooth. A cracked tooth must be treated if you want to avoid problems, and the typical way to treat a cracked tooth is with a filling or a veneer or crown.
If you see a crack in your tooth, it might be one of these types of cracks, or it could be a different type. In any case, you should contact resources such as Jacob L. Revercomb DMD so they can look at the crack to determine if you need treatment for it or not.