Comprehensive Review on the Management of Cracked Tooth

Abstract

Aim: To do a comprehensive review in a systematic fashion and provide a decision analysis tree for the management
of cracked teeth.
Background: Tooth fractures are commonly encountered in day to day dental practice. The consequences of these
fractures can range from a minor to severe from a stage where no treatment is needed to a stage leading to root canal
therapy or even tooth loss. One form of these fractures include cracked tooth syndrome. It often presents a difficulty
in diagnosis to the dentist and many times it’s a painful and a frustrating event to the patient. Cracked tooth syndrome
is a term applied to a presumptive diagnosis of an incomplete tooth fracture which typically presents with the
symptoms of pain on biting and responds to temperatures especially to cold stimuli. Routine clinical examinations in
patients with asymptomatic teeth, often uncover these fracture lines. Unfortunately, by the time these incomplete tooth
fractures become symptomatic, the tooth may already be destined to root canal therapy or extraction. Hence
appropriate knowledge is needed for dentists in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the cracked teeth.
Methodology & Result: Literature search was carried out on cracked teeth.