How do I know if my tooth is cracked?

jenniewb wrote: »

Be aware OP that fractures, especially hairline fractures are very difficult to pick up in an xray. They don't even show up on much bigger bones so easily- I had a tibial stress fracture (a hairline fracture in my lower leg) for 2 years. It was xrayed twice in those two years but I was given the all clear. It was painful initially enough to prevent me walking and I was told by a physio and eventually an orthopaedic consultant that it was more than likely the stress fracture began with the onset of the pain yet as I've said, on each occasion it was not picked up, not in an xray and not in an MRI either. It was only picked up by chance with a nuclear bone scan and they are a whole different ball game.


I've had a fracture in my tooth before. It hurt a lot and even without eating or drinking. It hurt when I moved my head and felt like a jagged pain in addition to the new sensitivity if I did try to eat/drink anything or breathe in cool air if that's any help. Pain killers helped (ibuprofen or NSAIDS or asprin, taken with paracetamol and codedine at night, I used to take one of either every 2 hours but never take NSAIDS alone with asprin- check with a medic though to ensure your OK to take any medication), it all seemed to help but didn't take it away. In addition to the localised pain it resulted in my having an almost constant headache and being unable to sleep, though possibly the headache was caused by the lack of sleep, I don't know!
The tooth then became infected so I can't really say more than that because the pain became caused by something else but it did go away when the tooth was removed.


Even with that fracture the Dentists nor myself in this case were not able to see clearly enough on the xray that was taken much more than a blur of a dark line and were not able to see if it went down as far as the root or not. (Turns out it was that far down or at least became that far down possibly, by the time it was taken out).


But the thing that always sits in my mind is that if it's that difficult to see a hairline fracture in a leg bone which is pretty massive in comparison to most bones in the body, it makes sense that it's even harder to see in a tooth and I didn't just have an xray either. I had a few scans. It's not so much that they don't pick things up, it's that if the fracture is something as thin as a hairline fracture (still v.painful IME!) it's just difficult to tell. The only way around it seems to be to wait and see. Sorry this sounds like a really impossible thing to do when your in pain, but the only other option is to remove the tooth. Unlike other bones, teeth don't seem to repair.


My (non medical, tuppence worth) suggestion? Take pain killers to reduce the pain as much as you can, decide on a time to give it for your body to rectify to see if it could be something else- agree this with your Dentist and if when the time has passed you cannot be pain free or carry on without pain killers, I'd assume it's not going to repair by itself. Again, I am not a medic, this is just what I'd do if it were happening to me.

Toothsmith wrote: »

It does look like you have been very well investigated for this problem - so it is highly unlikely that any suggestions made on here are going to be of much help to you.

Trigeminal neuralgia is really a diagnosis of elimination - when everything else has been looked into, then that is probably what it could be. I sometimes think that 'trigeminal neuralgia' is diagnosed a bit too easily, and more people are told they have it just because it's an easy way to dismiss pain.

BUT - it does look like you have been thoroughly investigated, and so that is probably the correct diagnosis.

I did have a patient a few months back who had brain-surgery to disconnect the nerve root that was thought to be causing the trouble. If teeth really have been eliminated as the cause, that might be an avenue worth looking into?

Toothsmith wrote: »

That's a very common story with cracked cusps.That's not quite what the OP is complaining of though.
Although cracks & infections don't always show up on x-ray - over the longer term, a problem with a tooth should come to light as the area gets bigger, and so will then show up on x-ray.