A broken tooth can cause embarrassment and even pain. Find out what to do if you break or chip your tooth and what options are available for treatment.

Emergency Dental Situations

Let's start off by looking at some situations that warrant an emergency visit to the dentist. Most broken teeth don't need emergency attention, but sometimes you will need to see your dentist immediately. Below are some of the scenarios when you need to call the dentist for a same-day appointment.

When Your Broken Tooth Has Fractured in Half

If your tooth is broken in half, especially if it feels loose or any pressure on the area hurts, this is a dental emergency. In this case, the tooth has officially chipped through not just the enamel and dentin, but into the pulp chamber. Not repairing this right away can cause serious issues, including an infection or a loss of the rest of the tooth.

If your tooth is broken clean in half, you'll need to make an emergency appointment with your dentist to see them the same day. There may be more dental work that needs to be done besides just on the day you arrive, but they can fix the damage and help control further damage.

Your Broken Tooth Is Bleeding Profusely

If your broken tooth is bleeding a little bit, especially if it occurred during an injury, this may not be an emergency. In fact, the blood may be coming from a soft tissue injury around the area and not the tooth itself. However, if your tooth itself is bleeding what seems like a lot, you'll need to visit the dentist on the same day to ensure things are all right with your tooth.

Again, the initial visit may just be to contain the bleeding, and you may need further visits to repair the tooth.

Your Pain Cannot Be Controlled with Over the Counter Painkillers

A broken tooth can be uncomfortable. This is especially the case if part of the root is jutting out of the tooth. Most often, this discomfort can be controlled with pain killers, particularly NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). If you find that you still cannot control your pain with NSAIDs despite your tooth not bleeding profusely or being broken in half, you may wish to make an emergency appointment.



For this type of pain, it is not necessary to see an emergency dentist out of hours unless the pain is absolutely unbearable. Otherwise, you can make a next-day appointment with your dentist. They can decide if they want to perform a dental procedure that day or to remove the root while they wait to repair the tooth. Or, they may give you stronger painkillers until your tooth can be fully repaired.

What's Not a Dental Emergency

Most broken teeth are, in fact, not dental emergencies. While you may need a root canal and crown, or other major dental procedure to repair your tooth, this can often happen at a later date and doesn't require you to make an emergency trip to the dentist.

Let's look at a few scenarios that are not emergencies.

When Your Tooth Chips a Little Bit, But There Is No Pain or Bleeding

If your tooth chips while eating food or playing sports, but you don't experience pain or bleeding, you don't need an emergency dental visit. You may wish to schedule a visit as soon as possible if the tooth is one of your front teeth for cosmetic reasons, but often, there is no need to see a dentist immediately.

In most instances, a tooth that has chipped a little bit can be addressed at your next dental appointment, or you can make a non-emergency appointment. From there, your dentist can decide how they will fix it and if you will need specialist treatment.

A minor chipped tooth can be assessed on your own. If your tooth is chipped but it is all still the same color, this is not serious. This means that only the enamel of the tooth has broken and not anything beneath it. Likely, this will only need a cosmetic repair.

Your Chipped Tooth Is Two Colors

If your chipped tooth is two colors, but not broken in half, this is more serious but not a dental emergency. If the broken section is yellow or dark brown, this means that the chip has gone into the dentin, and you may need more extensive dental work to repair it. Your tooth may also be sensitive to cold or heat.



You should call your dentist, or make an online appointment, for the next day during their business hours. They can then assess the damage and decide what they will do next.

Fixing a Broken Tooth

When you have a broken tooth, you will need to contact your dentist. Ignoring it can lead to a permanent loss of the tooth, as well as infections and abscesses if bacteria get into the nerve and cause an infection.



If you need to make an appointment with our team, click here. If you need to assess a chipped tooth, be sure to click ASAP when choosing your time of preference.