Cracked tooth syndrome? at my last visit to the dentist, she told me i have cracked tooth syndrome and have tiny cracks in several of my teeth. i go back in 10 days for this, and i'd like to know what caused it, or if there's anything i can do to stop it.

Typically : Typically cracked tooth syndrome is due to bruxism (grinding teeth) or chewing excessively hard foods (such as ice). Control of these etiologies will go a long way to reducing the potential for cracked teeth.

An : An important point is... Do you have symptoms or not. Many teeth look like there are tiny cracks in them but with out the symptoms, this is not exactly cracked tooth syndrome. Just because your dentist showed you tiny cracks doesn't mean anything; in fact when we make a cap in porcelain & other neighboring teeth have tiny cracks (craze lines ) we try to duplicate them in the porcelain to make it look more realistic. So do you have cold sensitivity that does not linger? Do you have a sharp pain when you chew certain foods on one particular area of your mouth? To truely have cracked tooth your dentist can demonstrate this with a crackfinder tool (a type of bite stick ). We don't treat teeth unless we can demonstrate this. The solution for those ( that can't be demonstrated ) would then be relieving the occlusion & waiting for more symptoms or for the tooth to recover. Cracked tooth syndrome (cts) involves a crack in the tooth portion that is above the gum line. 90 % of cts is fixed with a simple crown. It keeps the cracked part of the tooth above the gum line from moving & all the symptoms from being stimulating. The other 10% need root canal as well because the crack has reached the root canal system. If the crack is one of the above (described as favorable) this is a complete cure. If the tooth is cracked further below the gum, involving a fracture (or crack) of the root, the tooth will need to be extracted. Your dentist will know because there will be a space in the attachment of the tooth to the bone, just in the location of the crack. Xray evidences this type of crack, whereas cts is not discernable on xray exam.

Amalgam fillings: Most likely it is the metal amalgam filling in your tooth. Metal mercury fillings are not compatible with tooth structure. Different physics and mechanics. In fact, healthy tooth structure has to be undermined to hold the amalgam filling in place. This weakens teeth. These fillings act like wedges in teeth and cause cracks and fractures.

Some clarification: This comes from weakened tooth structure & excessive biting forces, either independently or in combination. People who suffer from bruxism or bite on hard foods are more prone to developing cracks in their teeth. There is a difference between visible surface cracks & cts! not all surface cracks are of concern or cause pain. Cts typically causes pain on biting, even more on release. Nite guard?