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You bite down on something and feel a sharp pain that quickly disappears. If this sounds familiar, you might have a hairline tooth fracture or cracked tooth. Learn more about how hairline tooth fractures occur, the symptoms you might experience, and what you can do about them.

What Is a Hairline Tooth Fracture?

Hairline Cracks In Front Teeth. If a person grinds their teeth or clenches their jaw in their sleep, they may wish to talk to their dentist about wearing a mouthguard at night. Related coverage Hairline Crack Down Front Tooth. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Primary Care / General Practice Public Health. Craze lines are technically cracks in your teeth, but they are only in the enamel (the very top layer of your teeth). A crack in your tooth penetrates the enamel and can go into the dentin and even the tooth nerve. Chewing on hard foods, such as candies, or even crunching on ice, can fracture a tooth. Stress-induced teeth grinding and jaw clenching can crack teeth as well. Less frequently, an accident or a blow to the jaw can also lead to a cracked tooth. In those cases, it’s usually a front tooth that’s affected.

A hairline tooth fracture is a small crack in the tooth. It’s actually a common condition and one of the leading causes of tooth loss in industrialized nations. The following are some of the different types of cracks that can appear on your teeth.

• Craze lines. Craze lines are minuscule cracks that appear on the enamel of your teeth. Craze lines don’t cause any pain or require any type of treatment.
• Vertical crack. A vertical crack runs up and down the tooth. If a tooth has a vertical crack that doesn’t extend to the gum line, it’s often possible to save the tooth. However, if the crack reaches into the gum line, the tooth will likely need to be extracted.
• Split tooth. A split tooth has a crack that separates the tooth into two segments. If the crack is large, it’s usually not possible to save the tooth.
• Fractured cusp. Fractured cusps typically occur around a dental filling. Since fractured cusps usually don’t affect the tooth’s pulp, they generally don’t cause much pain.

How Do Hairline Tooth Fractures Happen?

A number of issues can cause a hairline tooth fracture to occur. Some of the most common causes include the following:

• Chewing on a hard object, such as a piece of ice or hard candy.
• Pressure from jaw clenching or teeth grinding.
• A blow to the mouth from an accident, sports injury, or fall.
• Fillings that are too large and weaken the integrity of the tooth.
• Sudden temperature changes in the mouth. For example, eating hot food and immediately drinking ice water.
• Age. Most teeth cracks occur in people over the age of 50.

Symptoms of a Hairline Tooth Fracture

Not every hairline tooth fracture will have symptoms. However, experiencing any of the following could be a sign that you have a crack in your tooth:

• Pain that comes and goes.
• Pain when biting or chewing, especially when you release a bite.
• Sensitivity to sweetness, heat, or cold.
• Swollen gums around the tooth that hurts.

A cracked tooth hurts because the pressure you exert when you bite down causes the crack to open. When you stop biting, the pressure is released, and the crack quickly closes back up, which results in another sharp pain. Even though cracks are nearly microscopic in size, when they open, they reveal the sensitive pulp inside the tooth. If the pulp becomes infected or damaged, a root canal might be necessary to save the tooth.

Diagnosing a Cracked Tooth

Hairline tooth fractures are often hard to detect because the crack is so small that it’s invisible to the naked eye. If you’re experiencing some of the symptoms of a hairline tooth fracture, your dentist has different options for diagnosing the issue.

• Visual examination. Your dentist might be able to see some cracks using a magnifying lens.
• Physical examination. If your dentist can’t see the crack, he or she might be able to feel the crack by running a dental explorer over the tooth to see if it catches.
• Probe your gums. If you have a vertical crack that’s irritating your gums, your dentist can look for inflammation to help narrow down the location of the hairline fracture.
• Dental dye. Using a dental dye on your teeth can help make the crack stand out visually.
• X-ray. While X-rays can’t reveal small cracks, they can show poor pulp health, which is sometimes an indication of a crack.

You can also help your dentist narrow down the location of the crack by noting approximately where you feel the pain when you’re chewing and when and where you feel sensitivity to heat, cold, and sweetness.

Hairline Tooth Fracture Solutions

Treatment for a hairline tooth fracture depends on a number of factors, including where the crack is located, the size of the crack, and whether or not it extends into the gum line. Your dentist might recommend one of the following solutions:

• Bonding. During bonding, your dentist uses a plastic resin to fill the crack.
• Crown. A crown is a ceramic or porcelain prosthetic device that fits over the damaged tooth and caps it.
• Root canal. If the crack extends into the pulp, a root canal can remove the damaged pulp and restore some integrity to the tooth.
• Extraction. If the tooth, root, and nerves are severely damaged, sometimes the only option is to remove the tooth.

If you’re experiencing sharp and sudden pain when you bite, you might have a hairline tooth fracture. Make an appointment with your dentist today so you can go over your treatment options and find some relief.

Related Posts

– What to expect and what steps to take if you have a porcelain laminate chip, crack, break or come off (debond). | Remedies for common lost-veneer problems. | Underlying reasons why a veneer may debond or fracture.

What should you do if you have a veneer break off?

This page covers the subject of emergency care for situations where you have all or a portion of a porcelain laminate (veneer) come off your tooth.

As a quick preview, the following list provides a general outline of initial steps you should take.

Steps to take if you have a porcelain veneer come off.

1. Carefully remove the bits of the veneer from your mouth.
2. Store what you find somewhere safe. (Like wrapped in tissue and placed inside a medicine bottle.) Be careful, if the veneer is still fully intact your dentist may be able to reattach it.
3. Carefully investigate your tooth for sharpness. If needed, purchase white dental wax to place over its surface to protect your lips, cheeks and tongue from irritation.
4. Contact your dentist’s office and report your situation and findings.
5. Don’t look for trouble. Limit your tooth’s exposure to chewing and biting forces.
6. Also, limit its exposure to hot, cold and air because these types of stimuli may trigger sensitivity.

Additional information.

The remainder of this page provides explanations and details about the above points and issues.

• If instead you’re looking for information about how your tooth might be fixed, we discuss that subject here: Repair options for lost or damaged porcelain veneers.
• If you’re looking for information about what you should not do, read this page: Can you super glue your lost porcelain veneer back on?

Lost-veneer Emergencies – What takes place?

Most porcelain veneer emergencies involve the situation where the restoration has either:

• Fractured – Broken, cracked, crazed, chipped, etc…, with usually some portion of the restoration, possibly of relatively large size, coming off.
• Completely debonded – All of the veneer has come off. (Hopefully as an intact unit.)

1) Checking your tooth to determine what happened.

FYI – Be careful with this step. If there are any portions of your broken veneer still attached to your tooth these shards of porcelain could be sharp. When investigating, take precautions with your fingers, lips, cheeks and especially your tongue so they don’t get hurt.

a) What to look for.

There are really only two possibilities that may have occurred.

• Either your veneer has come off 100%, either as bits or as a whole.
• Or it has broken and a portion of the restoration still remains attached to your tooth.

1) Cases where all of the veneer has come off.

In terms of creating an emergency situation, this is probably the less troublesome of the two possibilities.

When investigating, you’ll probably find that:

A tooth that’s lost 100% of its veneer.

• Your tooth’s front surface definitely does feel different. But not in the sense of jagged and sharp but instead mostly just rough.

  (Remember, when your veneer was made your dentist probably trimmed back your tooth’s front surface just a little. And that’s what your tooth should feel like, roughened (by the trimming process) but still relatively flat and smooth. (See picture.)

• When looking at your tooth, you’ll probably notice that it doesn’t have the same glass-like glossy sheen as your other teeth. And you’ll find that it’s also slightly smaller than before and its color may be off.

▲Section references – Roman-Rodriguez

2) Cases where a portion of the veneer remains on your tooth.

In terms of creating an emergency, this is usually the more troublesome scenario. That’s because there is often some tooth sharpness to contend with. (Discussed below.)

As far as exactly what you’ll find when you investigate, there’s not all that much to say. You’ll both see and feel that there are now portions of your tooth (veneer actually) that are missing.

What’s missing might range from a large section or else just a small piece. Either way, the important thing here is to be careful with any sharpness the new configuration has created.

2) Checking your veneer.

Even after initially spitting out, you should still investigate your mouth to make sure any additional bits of the veneer have been removed too.

A good idea is to gently rinse your mouth and spit out into a bowl where the liquid can be examined for additional pieces. That way, you stand a better chance of achieving the luxury of accounting for all of the veneer.

a) What you’re hoping to find.

• If you only find one piece and it’s fairly sizable, then there’s a chance that your tooth’s laminate may not have broken but instead debonded (come off whole without breaking).

  This is a big deal because if it has, your dentist can probably reattach it.

• If instead you find that your veneer has broken into parts, the pieces are probably of little more than a curiosity to your dentist. Having them won’t assist in the repair process.

FYI – Since what will be needed to fix your tooth is so dependent upon precisely what has occurred, we’ve dedicated an entire page to this subject: “Damaged porcelain veneer repair – Options and possibilities.”

b) Inspecting your veneer.

Use the following points to help you get an idea if your veneer is still fully intact or not.

Look for a confluent outline form with no sharp breaks.

• Obviously, when you look down on the veneer’s convex (shiniest) side, it should look exactly like a tooth. The edges on this side will generally be rounded and smooth to the touch. (See picture up above.)
• The veneer’s internal (concave) surface may be harder to assess. Its outline form will typically look relatively symmetrical. The edges on this side, however, can be expected to have some sharpness to them.
• You can also evaluate your tooth. If you see broken segments still attached to it, you obviously have your answer. (Be careful. Shards of porcelain like these can be sharp to your fingers, tongue, cheeks and lips.)

  As mentioned above, usually the bonding that originally held the veneer in place will come off with it, leaving bare tooth structure (enamel) showing.

c) Store your veneer carefully.

If you find that your veneer seems fully intact, and if you can get it in that shape to your dentist’s office, having it will probably save you the cost of having a new one made. So, wrap it up in some bathroom tissue and then place it in a hard protective container, like a medicine bottle.

If instead you find that your veneer is broken, go ahead and save the parts you’ve found to show to your dentist, but most likely they’ll only be a curiosity to them.

3) Let your dentist know you have a problem.

You will, of course, need to contact your dentist’s office and report to them what you’ve experienced. And armed with the information you’ve accumulated, you should be able to give them a pretty full accounting.

Having this information, along with an update of how you and your tooth are doing and are coping with your new reality, they can then make arrangements with you for your tooth’s evaluation and repair.

4) What to expect in the meantime.

a) Cosmetic emergencies.

Most veneer emergencies are probably best described as strictly cosmetic ones. Usually, no significant difficulties will exist or crop up with the tooth other than the fact that it simply doesn’t look right.

That’s not to say that a person’s cosmetic concerns aren’t important or valid. However, your ability to get these types of issues resolved, permanently or even temporarily, will simply depend on your dentist’s availability in scheduling you for an appointment.

No good home-remedy solutions exist for resolving cosmetic issues. Possibly placing white dental wax over the tooth (explained below) can temporarily improve its appearance. We can’t imagine any scenario where a dentist would encourage any sort of self-treatment in reattaching the veneer, so don’t.

b) Your tooth itself will probably be just fine.

While you may notice some sharpness or transient air or thermal sensitivity associated with your tooth (both discussed below), you can generally expect that it will be OK.

You may not remember but …

In most cases, when your veneer was originally placed only a minimal amount of your tooth’s front surface was trimmed away. And in some cases, like when Lumineer® veneers (ultra-thin porcelain veneers) are made, possibly no trimming was performed at all.

And because it’s the norm that a veneered tooth has been altered so minimally, the outlook for its health and wellbeing, just because its veneer covering has come off (all or a portion of it), shouldn’t be expected to be a major concern between now and when you get in to see your dentist.

If you need more reassuring –

With many veneer cases, no temporaries are placed. That means that the patient’s teeth are left uncovered (like your tooth that’s lost its veneer is now) for the entire one to two weeks while their permanent laminates are being made.

Extenuating circumstances.

Hairline Crack Front Tooth

All of what’s stated on this page only applies to situations where a veneer has debonded or fractured under relatively passive circumstances (like unexpectedly biting into something hard). The outlook for veneered teeth that have undergone direct trauma is a different matter and the health outlook for the tooth might be different. This type of situation requires evaluation by your dentist.

c) What you are likely to experience with damaged veneers.

Since your tooth has lost its veneer, and therefore some or all of its front covering, …

• You may notice that your tooth has increased sensitivity to hot or cold foods and beverages.
• In similar fashion, your tooth could possibly display some level of air sensitivity, like when drawing cold air into your mouth.
• You may find roughness or sharpness associated with your tooth, especially in cases where a part of the broken veneer remains attached to it.

What should you do?

As basic precautions for teeth that have broken or lost veneers.

• It only makes sense that if something tends to irritate your tooth that you should avoid that activity. So minimize its exposure to hot and cold extremes and air.
• Avoid any activities or habits that will direct forces to the tooth (biting, chewing, teeth clenching).
• Manage the difficulties you experience using first-aid measures. (Discussed next.)

5) First-aid and home remedies for lost or broken veneers.

1) Apply white dental wax over the tooth.

If you do experience trouble with air or thermal sensitivity, or especially surface roughness, placing a protective layer of wax over your tooth can help to provide relief.

• Most drugstores sell white dental wax. (It’s frequently needed by orthodontic patients to cover over sharp brackets and wires.)
• Just squish a small, flattened piece of it over your tooth. Letting it work its way in between your teeth somewhat will help to hold it in place.
• Expect that the wax will dislodge easily, so remove it at times like before eating or at bedtime.

2) Wear your mouthguard.

In cases where the amount of sharpness associated with a damaged veneer is severe and can’t be managed, just wear your nightguard, sports mouthpiece, or with some designs, your orthodontic retainer.

If you don’t have one of these types of appliances, you might purchase a DIY mouthguard at your local pharmacy. (Forming these appliances involves heating them up, so if you are experiencing thermal sensitivity with your tooth, that might be a precluding consideration for this remedy.)

3) Assistance from your dentist.

While clearly not an at-home or DIY remedy, for situations where tooth sharpness is a factor that can’t be managed, don’t overlook calling your dentist’s office again.

Just because they can’t schedule a repair appointment for you immediately doesn’t mean that they won’t offer to have you stop by so they can buff down a sharp irritating point. Doing so should be painless and just take a few moments.

6) Your repair appointment.

Scheduling.

As far as receiving definitive treatment for your situation goes, you’ll usually find yourself at the mercy of your dentist’s schedule.

Generally, a lost-veneer scenario falls under the category of ‘cosmetic dilemma’ as opposed to an emergency where there are actual concerns about the health outlook for you and your tooth. But, of course, that doesn’t mean that complications can’t arise or that your cosmetic situation isn’t important.

• When you call your dentist’s office, be sure to give them a complete accounting of what’s transpired, what you’ve since noticed, and how that has affected you. They can then decide what level of attention you require.
• If anything changes before your appointment, make sure that you notify them so they can pass judgment on those issues too.

What type of repair will be made?

Because the range of possible repairs for lost veneers is so dependent on the specific circumstances of each case, we now discuss this topic on its own page.

7) Hopefully you can learn from what’s taken place.

For future reference in avoiding problems, it makes sense to take note of what activity broke, or immediately preceded the breaking of your veneer. (For example, fingernail biting and teeth clenching can place excessive forces on laminates.)

Be sure to discuss your circumstances and thoughts with your dentist. They may be able to suggest some solutions too. (For example, the forces generated by nighttime teeth grinding can be mitigated by wearing a dental nightguard.)

Underlying causes of veneer fracture and debonding.

The type of veneer emergency that you’ve experienced can give your dentist a hint about what type of underlying problem lies at hand.

a) Debonding.

A porcelain veneer is a sandwiched affair, consisting of tooth, cement and ceramic. When one debonds (comes off its tooth, primarily in one piece), the separation may have taken place either at the ceramic/cement junction or else the tooth/cement one.

What usually happens.

• Assuming that the original placement conditions were ideal, the most common failure point lies at the tooth and cement interface.
• The most likely cause for this is that the tooth surface to which the veneer has been bonded involves a high percentage of dentin (the tooth layer underneath dental enamel).

Explanation.

Dental materials will create a bond with dentin. But the strength of this bond is far weaker than the one possible with dental enamel (use the link above for more details).

If a high percentage of the tooth’s surface is exposed dentin, the strength of the tooth-to-cement interface will be comparatively weak.

Solutions.

As explained above, a dentist can attempt to re-bond the veneer. Unfortunately, the same underlying condition will still persist (not enough tooth enamel is present to create a secure bond) and therefore further episodes of debonding may be likely.

Especially in the case of repeated failure, making a dental crown for the tooth instead may be the only lasting solution.

b) Fracture.

Considering the thin, fragile nature of porcelain veneers, it may be surprising to most people that breakage or fracturing happens as seldom as it does.

These restorations work because when they’re bonded onto enamel, it’s the more rigid of the two and therefore tends to absorb most of the forces directed to the tooth.

Cracking.

When a veneer cracks, it suggests that the opposite is the case. The forces applied have been directed to it instead of tooth structure.

As an example, when a veneer is bonded to primarily tooth dentin (the problem discussed above) the laminate is the stiffer of the two. This tends to focus forces applied to the tooth to the veneer, thus leading to fracture.

Chipping.

How To Fix Hairline Crack In Front Tooth

In some cases, just a small chip may have broken off a porcelain veneer (like off of its biting edge).

This would simply be a testament to the fact that the tooth/veneer complex has been able to successfully withstand the pressures applied to it. However, the forces applied exceeded the internal strength of the ceramic itself.

The activity that caused the chipping might be a one-time event, like unexpectedly biting into something hard. But often it’s a parafunctional habit that is the problem and must be curtailed (clenching teeth, biting fingernails).

Hairline Crack In Front Tooth Repair

Page references sources:

Hairline Crack Front Tooth

Roman-Rodriguez JL, et al. Cleaning and retreatment protocol for a debonded ceramic restoration.

Hairline Crack In Front Tooth Pain

All reference sources for topic Porcelain Veneers.