Deal with the Pain from a Chipped Tooth

A chipped or broken tooth can lead to extreme pain and discomfort. Dentists are not always immediately available to have a look at the tooth, but during the interim, you can ease the pain to more manageable levels.

Steps

Minimizing Pain

1. Avoid hot or cold food or beverages. If your nerve is exposed, it will be sensitive to variances in temperature. Both hot and cold temperatures will cause extreme pain. Prevent this pain by staying away from hot coffee, tea, soup or other foods. Don't drink iced drinks or eat ice cream.
   • The best temperature for foods or beverages will be about the same temperature as the air.
   • Wait until coffee or tea is room temperature before drinking.
2. Stay away from sugary or acidic foods and beverages. These will cause a nerve to hurt. In addition, they will eat away at the already-damaged enamel of your tooth.
   • Examples of foods to avoid include tomatoes, oranges, lemons, and coffee.
   • In addition to high sugar content, most soft drinks contain phosphoric and citric acids that wear away tooth enamel.
3. Use over-the-counter pain relief. Both acetaminophen or ibuprofen can effectively handle the pain that comes with a chipped or broken tooth. Most toothaches are caused by inflammation of the gum or nerve tissue, so an anti-inflammatory pain reliever will work best.
   • Never put a pain reliever directly on the injured tooth itself.
   • Check for possible interactions with any other medication you may be taking. A pharmacist will be able to answer any questions you may have.
   • Topical numbing gels, such as Anbesol, may help briefly, but are unlikely to provide any sustained pain relief from cracked tooth pain.
4. Floss between teeth. Take a piece of dental floss between your two index fingers, and gently slide between each tooth. If any food is pressing against your broken tooth, the floss should remove it.
   • Make sure that you go all the way to the gum line.
   • Waxed floss is recommended as it makes it easier to slide between your teeth.
5. Use oil-of-cloves. Oil-of-cloves, or eugenol, is an effective natural pain reliever. Apply a small amount of the oil to a cotton ball, and press the cotton ball against the painful tooth for about 10 seconds.
   • Be careful not to swallow the oil-of-cloves.
   • Oil-of-cloves can be found at many natural foods stores.
6. Seal the crack temporarily. You can get a temporary dental cement from most drug stores or pharmacies. These temporary fixes will help cover the crack in your tooth, which will help with the pain.
   • Stick with soft foods while wearing your temporary tooth repair, and avoid unnecessary chewing.
   • Using the temporary repair should allow you to handle hot or cold foods more easily.
7. Use toothpaste or gel with a high percentage of fluoride. A fluoride toothpaste or a fluor gel can help speed up the remineralization of your tooth. This can help ease any sensitivity or discomfort.
8. Elevate your head when you're asleep. Raising your head just slightly above the level of your heart will help relieve some of the pressure against your chipped or broken tooth. When the head is placed at the same level as the heart or lower, blood will rush to that area, bringing with it more pressure which results in pain.
   • Sleeping with an extra pillow or two will raise your head sufficiently to help ease the pain.
   • Avoid tilting your head at an extreme angle that may cause pain in your neck.
9. Rinse with warm salt water. Salt water works as an antibacterial as well as a pain reliever. Dissolve several teaspoons of table salt into a cup (8 oz or 237 ml) of warm water several times per day. Fill your mouth with the salt water, rinse, and gently spit out. Repeat three to four times per application.
   • Generic table salt is fine for this. It doesn't need to be iodized.
   • Don't use hot water while your tooth is chipped, as it will be painful against your exposed nerve.

Treating Your Cracked Tooth

1. Learn more about cracked or broken teeth. The severity of the pain depends upon how deep the crack or break in your tooth is. The surface level of the tooth is the enamel, which is the hardest tissue in the human body. The dentin layer is beneath the enamel, followed by the dental pulp chamber containing the tooth nerves.
   • A crack that goes all the way into the dental pulp layer will be the most painful.
   • "Craze lines" are cracks that affect only the enamel. Their damage is usually purely cosmetic, though if a craze line is on your front tooth, it may produce sensitivity.
   • Craze lines can occur when you consume a very hot or very cold beverage, or a combination of the two. They can also be caused by tooth grinding.
2. See a dental care professional. Your dentist should be able to repair most simple chips in teeth. They may also recommend that you seek help from an endodontist for more complex repair.
   • If the tooth requires a root canal, you'll need to see an endodontist. An endodontist is a dentist who has received specialized training in diagnosing and treating oral and facial pain.
   • Endodontists also are trained in problems associated with the inside of the tooth.
3. Tell your dentist how your tooth was cracked. Treatment for a cracked tooth depends in part on how the tooth was damaged. Common reasons for a cracked tooth include: chewing or biting on something hard (such as an ice cube, an unpopped kernel of popcorn, or fruit stone); a hard blow to the chin or lower jaw; tooth grinding; or gum disease, which has weakened the tooth.
   • Sometimes large fillings serve to weaken the tooth so that it cracks in response to ordinary use.
   • If you have a habit of chewing pens, pencils or other hard objects, this may also result in chipping your teeth.
4. Avoid habits that may result in cracked teeth. If you tend to grind your teeth, either during the day or at night when you're asleep, you may be more likely to crack a tooth. Biting your lips or inner cheeks may cause enamel to erode.
   • Smoking results in gum problems, which lead to damaged teeth.
   • Nail-biting is a habit that can result in a chipped tooth, particularly if you bite too hard.
5. Wear a mouthguard at night. Grinding is when a person moves their jaw back and forth, pressing the teeth together. You may not even be aware that you grind your teeth at night. Sometimes a chipped tooth is how someone learns they have this bad habit! If you notice any pain in your jaw or tension in your neck, you may be grinding your teeth at night.
   • Every time you grind your teeth, you're injuring your tooth enamel. Over time this will result in weakened teeth.
   • Over-the-counter mouth guards are less expensive, but may result in difficulty breathing at night.
   • A good night guard should be comfortable and well-fitted to your teeth. If the guard is working it should relieve any jaw pain in the morning.
6. Protect your teeth when playing sports. Accidental injuries are a common cause of chipped teeth. Wearing a mouthguard when playing high-impact sports will help prevent this.
   • Mouthguards come in a variety of price ranges. Recommended mouthguards are comfortable, resistant to tearing, and resilient. Ask your dental care provider for more information.
   • A mouthguard should be long-lasting and easy to clean. It should be fitted to suit the individual's mouth, and should not restrict speech or breathing.
   • Sports for which mouthguards are recommended include both high-contact sports (such as football, hockey, roller-derby, rugby, etc.) and low-contact sports (such as gymnastics, weightlifting, surfing, etc.).

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