What to Expect if You Need a Broken Tooth Extraction

As dentists, we get it. Broken teeth are never fun. In fact, they can be quite painful. While chewing nuts, ice, or hard candy can lead to a broken tooth, it can also happen when you’re eating something relatively soft like a sandwich. Often, the tooth already had micro-cracks and the break was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. It can happen unexpectedly.

The first thing you should do is call your family dentist. Our Cincinnati office keeps several appointments open daily for such emergencies. In fact, we can usually see you in the next couple of days, even if we’ve never seen you before. For us, every patient is a priority; everyone deserves a friendly emergency dentist to call.

Not all broken teeth need extraction; sometimes patients just need a chipped tooth repaired with a simple dental bonding. However, if the tooth broke at the gum line or cracked, it will likely need extracted. Extracting a broken tooth that broke or cracked above the gum line is necessary to protect your jaw health as well as the health of the nerve.

Your dentist will do everything he or she can to save the tooth, usually fixing it with a filling, crown or bonding treatment. In some cases, the damage to the tooth is so severe that removing it completely is the only remedy. Loose teeth will also need to be extracted. To some extent, your teeth actually hold your jawbones in place, so loose teeth leave your other teeth susceptible to movement that can damage your bite.

Your dentist will take an X-ray to determine if broken tooth extraction is necessary. This will show the tooth’s relationship to your other teeth, as well as upper teeth connection to the sinuses and lower teeth connection to the lower jaw and lip.

Does Your Tooth Hurt? Fast, Natural Pain Relief at Home

If your broken tooth led to a terrible toothache, there are several natural remedies that can provide relief. Over the counter pain medication can be highly effective, but there are several remedies you might find in the spice section of the grocery store (or your kitchen cabinet) that can also provide relief.

Mix ginger and cayenne together into a paste. Soak it into a cotton ball. Place it on your tooth, avoiding your tongue and gums. This is a spicy concoction, so only do it for as long as you can stand it. Cayenne contains capsaicin, which works to block pain messages to the brain.

Swish with a mixture of sea salt and warm water. Mix about a teaspoon of salt with a cup of water. Swish for about 30 seconds and spit out. This will cleanse the tooth and draw out some fluid that causes the swelling. It’s also an effective antiseptic. You might consider doing this rinse normally for oral health because it can kill the bacteria that causes cavities. Don’t swish more than 3 or 4 times a week because too much can wear down your enamel.

Peppermint tea does wonders to soothe and relax you. It also can be an effective numbing agent. Black tea too can reduce swelling because of its astringent tannins.

Rinsing with 3% hydrogen peroxide can help relieve toothache and kill infection. Spit it out and rinse your mouth afterward with cold water.

All of these methods will provide immediate relief, but won’t really get to the root of the problem. They’re meant to be very temporary ways to reduce pain while you’re waiting to see your emergency dentist. Call our Cincinnati dental office as soon as possible. We’ll get you in for an emergency appointment ASAP.

Don’t Eat, Drink or Smoke Close to Surgery

For a broken tooth extraction, you will be given local anesthesia to numb the area. It is recommended you not eat or drink anything for six or eight hours before the procedure. Avoid smoking the day of the surgery to prevent dry socket, which can be very painful. The socket is the hole where the tooth was removed. A blood clot then forms in that socket as the body’s natural attempt to protect the bones and nerves. Sometimes this blood clot can dissolve or become dislodged, which leaves the nerve exposed. This can result in extreme pain or infection that lasts 5 to 6 days. Smoking cigarettes also slows the body’s healing program, which is the last thing you want while recovering from surgery.

Call Your Dentist if You’re Sick

If you are sick with a cough, stuffy nose, nausea, vomiting or a cold up until a week before the surgery, call your dentist. He or she may want to postpone the treatment. Your upper teeth interact with your sinus system – everything is interconnected. Similarly, nausea and vomiting leave an unhealed area vulnerable to stomach acids. So while it may not seem like a big deal, it really is better to wait until you’re well to have a broken tooth extracted.

Options for Tooth Replacement

Once you’ve had your broken tooth extracted, you’ll need to figure out how to replace it. You don’t want to just do nothing. This can lead to problems in your surrounding teeth — they can shift or even fall out. Your jaw will also literally disintegrate, causing further problems for your teeth. The longer you go without replacing your tooth, the harder it is to replace it with a dental implant. If you’ve lost too much of your jawbone, you may need to do a dental bone grafting before receiving an implant crown.

A dental implant is your best option for replacing missing teeth. For all practical purposes, it looks and functions like your natural tooth. The only catch is a dental implant can be expensive — $1,000 to $3,000, depending on if you need a bone graft or not.

An implant supported bridge is ideal if you are missing multiple teeth in a row. We only do implants on the teeth at either end of the bridge which support the middle teeth. This is less expensive than replacing each tooth with a dental implant.

A tooth supported bridge uses your existing teeth to support the placement of a bridge, rather than two implants. This is a more affordable option because dental implants are not necessary.

Removable partial dentures are the most cost effective option for replacing missing teeth. These work like full dentures but are only designed to replace one or a few teeth.

Talk to your dentist about which option is best for you.

Do You Need an Emergency Dentist in Cincinnati?

If you need emergency dental care in Cincinnati or Sharonville, call us! We are currently accepting new patients.

The joined practices of Dr. Schmerler and Dr. Malavich, Beckham Square Family Dental offers comprehensive gentle family dentistry featuring the latest advancements, technologies, and innovations in dental health. We practice gentle dentistry. That means we strive to do anything we can to help you feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible.

We are a family dental clinic because we treat patients of all ages and we regard our patients as our own family. We care for not just your oral health, but your overall health, and that includes your well-being. Dental hygiene like regular dental cleanings is such an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle that we take it very seriously. Relax! You’re in good hands.

Give us a call or fill out our online form. We’ll try to get you seen as soon as possible, even if you’ve never been here before. We understand emergencies are unpleasant, so we place a priority on providing gentle, friendly and skilled dental care, and not just in emergencies, but all of the time.