Conditions
Cracked tooth syndrome
Cracked tooth syndrome describes a small break in a tooth that can cause sharp pain when you bite or when the tooth meets cold. The crack may be hard to see.
A cracked tooth is when something damages your tooth and causes a small break, or crack, in it. A cracked tooth may cause symptoms like pain and swelling. Your tooth may feel sensitive to changes in temperature.
A crack can come from biting something hard, an injury, a large filling or grinding. A crack can be hard to find, so tell your dentist when the pain happens.
Your dentist has several ways to treat a cracked tooth, depending on how deep the crack goes. A dental crown is one option. A badly cracked tooth may be a dental emergency. See fractured tooth and bruxism. Our office describes crowns on its dental crown page.