Broken Tooth? Here's Exactly What To Do
What to do with a broken tooth right now
The next few hours matter. Do these six things, and avoid the two common mistakes at the end.
- Rinse gently with warm salt water, half a teaspoon in a glass; it cleans the break without shocking the nerve
- Save any large fragment in milk (or saliva), some fragments can be bonded back if you’re seen quickly
- Cover sharp edges with sugar-free chewing gum or pharmacy dental wax to protect your tongue and cheek
- Chew on the other side and skip very hot, cold, hard or sweet foods, all four provoke an exposed break
- Take ordinary painkillers as directed, paracetamol or ibuprofen manage most broken-tooth pain
- Book a dentist within days, not weeks, breaks progress; they never stabilise on their own
Two things NOT to do: never place aspirin against the gum (it chemically burns the tissue), and never file, glue or “smooth” the tooth yourself, DIY repairs turn one-visit fixes into root canals. Same-day help needed if: severe pain, facial swelling, a fever, or a tooth knocked loose, call us, or NHS 111 out of hours.
What your symptoms are telling you
Pain is diagnostic, the pattern of it maps surprisingly well onto how deep the damage goes.
| What you feel | What it usually means | Urgency |
|---|---|---|
| No pain, rough edge, tongue keeps finding it | Chip within the enamel, no living tissue exposed | Book within 1–2 weeks |
| Twinges with cold, sweet or breathing in | Dentine exposed, the sensitive layer beneath enamel | Book within days |
| Sharp pain on biting, easing on release | Cracked tooth flexing under load, cracks spread | Book within days |
| Throbbing, heat sensitivity, pain at night | Nerve (pulp) involvement, inflammation or infection beginning | Same-day / next-day |
| Swelling, bad taste, fever, loose tooth | Infection or deep fracture, can spread beyond the tooth | Same-day; NHS 111 if out of hours |
Why does a broken tooth hurt at all? Enamel is armour with no feeling; beneath it, dentine carries thousands of microscopic tubes leading to the nerve. A break exposes those tubes, so air, cold and sugar suddenly have a direct line inside. The deeper the break, the shorter that line.
How dentists actually fix broken teeth
The repair follows the depth of the break, from a single-visit bond to full replacement. All of these happen under one roof here.
| Break depth | The fix | Time | Guide price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small chip (enamel only) | Composite bonding, tooth-coloured resin sculpted and polished invisible | One visit, ~40 min | from £150 |
| Larger corner or cusp lost | Onlay or crown, a lab-made cap restoring full strength | Two visits | from £650 |
| Break reaching the nerve | Root canal + crown, the nerve treated, the tooth armoured | 2–3 visits | from £900 |
| Broken below the gum / vertical root split | Extraction + implant, the tooth can’t be saved; the smile can | Same-day options exist | from £2,100 |
Guide prices, every case gets a fixed written quote after examination.
Can my broken tooth be saved?
Usually, yes, the majority of broken teeth we see are repairable, and we always repair where repair is genuinely the better decision. The honest exceptions: a fracture running below the gum line leaves nothing sound to build on; a vertical root split can’t be sealed against bacteria; and a tooth that’s been broken, patched and re-broken repeatedly eventually costs more to keep failing than to replace properly.
When a tooth is condemned, the timing decision matters more than people realise: replacing it promptly, ideally planning the implant before extraction, lets us preserve the socket bone, and for suitable front teeth a same-day implant means you’re never seen without a tooth. A broken front tooth gets aesthetic-zone planning as standard.
Save it when…
The break is above the gum, the root is intact, and the tooth hasn’t become a serial patient. Bonding, onlays and crowns do the job for years.
Replace it when…
The fracture runs under the gum or splits the root, or the repair cycle has already failed twice. An implant ends the cycle permanently.
Either way…
The free consultation includes the X-ray or scan that makes this call on evidence, plus a fixed written price for whichever route is honest.
What everyone asks
It depends entirely on how deep the break goes. Small chips are repaired with composite bonding in one visit; larger breaks need an onlay or crown to restore strength; breaks that expose the nerve usually need root canal treatment before crowning; and breaks below the gum line or vertical root splits generally mean extraction, ideally with an implant plan agreed before the tooth comes out, so the gap is never left to shrink the bone.
Pain is diagnostic. Sensitivity to cold or sweet things suggests exposed dentine, urgent but manageable. Sharp pain on biting suggests a crack flexing under load. Constant throbbing, heat sensitivity or pain that wakes you points to nerve involvement, and swelling or a bad taste suggests infection, the last two need same-day dental attention, or NHS 111 out of hours.
Rinse gently with warm salt water, save any large fragment in milk, cover a sharp edge with sugar-free chewing gum or over-the-counter dental wax, avoid chewing on that side, avoid very hot, cold or sweet foods, and take ordinary painkillers as directed, but never place aspirin against the gum, which burns tissue. Then get seen quickly: broken teeth deteriorate, they don’t stabilise.
No. Enamel has no living cells, so unlike bone it cannot regrow, the very best case is a small chip that simply never worsens. Every other break progresses: cracks spread under chewing forces, exposed dentine decays, and open pathways let bacteria reach the nerve. Early repair is always the cheapest repair.
It’s urgent if there’s severe pain, swelling, bleeding that won’t stop, a tooth knocked loose or out, or a fever, treat those as same-day problems (emergency dentist or NHS 111). A painless chip can wait a few days but shouldn’t wait weeks, because painless today doesn’t mean stable.