Broken or cracked tooth

A broken tooth or broken filling can occur when biting into some type of food or other substance. Repeat offenders at breaking teeth or fillings are crackling, bones, lollies (particularly minties!), but sometimes it is a soft food that breaks the tooth. This is because the tooth has been undergoing stresses whilst you have been eating, eventually it is like the straw that broke the camel's back!

Sometimes there is no pain associated with a broken tooth. However, you may experience a sore bit on the side of your tongue or cheek due to a sharp bit of tooth, and/or the tooth itself may be sensitive to hot or cold.

It is important to come visit us to see if your tooth is restorable. If you leave a broken tooth without seeing a dentist, it may get infected which limits your options in saving the tooth long-term; an infected tooth requires a root canal treatment or an extraction. 

Broken or cracked teeth may have

• no sensitivity
• sensitivity may be sensitive to hot, cold or sweet foods and drinks
  • that lasts seconds or minutes
  • or it lasts hours with constant pain, disturbed sleep and a bad taste in your mouth

solutions for broken or cracked teeth

We would highly recommend coming for a consultation and x-ray (from $103), to assess if the tooth is saveable. Here are your treatment options for a broken or cracked tooth. Click on the green words to find out more about specific treatments:

1. repair (from $160), very short-term temporary option
2. replace the broken filling with a white composite filling ($259-659), medium strength option, may last 3-5 years
3. manufacture a NZ lab-made crown, high strength and long-lasting option 10+ years (from $1849)
4. extract the tooth (from $279). Click on our replacing missing teeth page
5. If an abscess has developed, the tooth may need root canal treatment prior to it being rebuilt which starts from $800. Alternatively the tooth can be removed.