Fractured and Broken Teeth

Some people may think feel that their teeth are strong and will not break. Teeth can be fracture or break for various reasons:

• Biting on hard objects such as shell fish, bones and nuts
• Accidents
• Night grinding
• Loss of or imbalance occlusion/bite
• Tooth structure weakened by root canal therapy
• Faulty dental restorations
• Amalgam fillings
• Tooth decay

Some breakage will cause intense pain that will not stop while others will only hurt when you bite or chew. As small breakage may not cause initial pay, they may be neglected resulting in larger fractures or cracks. No matter what kind of breakage it is, it is advisable to call the Bondi 24 hours dental service and have the problem fixed.

What shall I do when my tooth breaks?

The vast majority of the times, the tooth is merely cracked and will only cause a little pain. In this case, take an over the counter pain medication to stop some of the pain until you can see your dentist. With more severe cracks you can place an ice pack on the area to stop the pain associated with the crack, and to reduce swelling until you can visit our Bondi Dental Emergency Dental Clinic located at Bondi Beach.

If the tooth is broken or knocked out, immediately rinse your mouth with warm water. This will clean the area and your will be able to better assess the damage to the tooth. If the tooth is bleeding, place gauze on the area until the bleeding stops. Clean and save all the pieces of the tooth and bring them with you to the dentist. You can take an over the counter pain reliever to ease the pain until you can see the Bondi dentist. Place a cold compress on the area to reduce swelling and get to our Emergency Dentist immediately.

Fixing a Fractured or Broken Tooth

If the tooth is broken, our Bondi Dental dentist will examine the tooth to see if it can be saved. At times if there is nerve damage to the root of the tooth and a root canal is required to stop the pain and to save the tooth. With children, many times the dentist will attempt to save the tooth and the root until the permanent tooth comes into place.

If the tooth is fractured our Bondi dentist will examine the tooth to find the exact nature of the fracture. If it is a minor crack, it may be able to be fixed with filling material to restore the tooth. If the breakage is large, our Bondi Dental dentist will first repair the breakage with composite and will suggest that you have a dental crown to protect and support the tooth. If you received a cusp fracture, most of the time bonding agents will be used to repair the damage to the tooth.

For more serious fractures where the tooth is broken into several parts, a root canal will be performed. After the root canal, a crown or inlay will be placed over the tooth. In more serious cases, the tooth will not be able to be saved and will have to be extracted and an implant or bridge installed to replace the tooth.

The important thing to remember in the case of an emergency fractured or broken tooth is that time matters. The chances of saving your tooth will increase greatly if you get to the dentist quickly.

Emergency broken tooth

Broken teeth that have been split or shattered can hurt immensely. This is especially true when nerves remain exposed post injury.

Attend to immediately

Teeth with such problems should be attended to immediately to avoid further pain, prevent damage to the exposed nerve and also as to avoid possible infection.

Different types of breakage

• Snapped
• Split
• Fractured
• Shattered
• Knocked out/Missing teeth

Treatment for each type of breakage or fracture varies from simple composite restoration to root canal therapy, extraction and implant installation.  Our Bondi Dental dentist will provide you with the best solution most appropriate to your situation. What if you have a broken front tooth?

Broken front tooth emergency restoration

Broken front teeth can be restored with tooth coloured material called composite.  This procedure requires not only technical competence, but also a good sense of aesthetics.  Dr. Andrew Sih has the ‘know how’ on using various composite colours with different hue, value, intensity and translucency to create the most natural and pleasing effect.

If both of your front teeth are broken and there is no reference points, Dr. Andrew Sih is also able to ‘vision’ the original shape of the teeth by looking at the patient’s oral tissue structures, facial features and shapes and sizes of the adjacent teeth, and ‘create’ the original function and natural look of the front teeth.

This procedure normally takes less than one hour to complete.  Results are instinctive and satisfactory.  For severely broken front teeth, composite restorations can only serve as a temporary remedy, and patients are advised to replace the restored teeth with crowns for a more permanent result.

If you happen to have an accident and break your front tooth, there is no need for distress, call Dr. Andrew Sih at Bondi Dental at

(02) 9365 3988 and he can restore your tooth to its original look and shape.  He is only one phone call away.