COULD A CRACKED TOOTH DAMAGE YOUR OVERALL ORAL HEALTH?
A cracked tooth does not sound like it is something that could affect your overall health, especially if it is not causing all that much pain.
The truth is that a cracked tooth needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. If you put it off, it could start to affect your overall oral health.
Pain
Any pain needs to be checked out. With a cracked tooth, the pain may be severe at first, and then diminishes over time. A crack in a tooth can get worse. You could experience sensitivity to hot and cold because of the crack, and it might hurt to eat on that tooth. That means your other teeth will need to work harder, which could wear them down over time.
Bad Breath
Bad breath that does not go away could be a sign of a cracked tooth that is infected. While bad breath does not seem like it is more than an annoyance, it could be a sign of something worse. If you suddenly have bad breath and have never had a problem with it before, an infected cracked tooth could be the culprit.
Dental Abscess
A cracked tooth could lead at an abscess. This is a pocket of pus in the gumline next to the tooth. The abscess could hurt, but it could be much worse than that. An abscess, if left untreated, could become infected. That could lead to fever and an infection that spreads throughout your entire body. A cracked tooth could damage not only your oral health, but your overall health.
A cracked tooth needs to be taken care of as soon as possible, it is not something that you should put off. If you have a tooth that you think might be cracked, make an appointment so we can take care of it immediately.
