Do All Fractured Teeth Have To Be Removed?

As an oral surgeon, I want to share with you a question I often get asked, “Do all fractured teeth have to be removed?” No, not all fractured teeth have to be removed. It really depends on where it fractures. What I mean by that is simply that the tooth actually is a long structure and that structure has parts to it. If a portion of that tooth breaks or is fractured away, it can if it can be sealed or repaired with a crown or a proper filling. Then, that fracture, well basically, doesn’t exist anymore. But if a fracture extends beyond an area where it can be sealed or repaired then that tooth does need to be removed because that fracture becomes a weak point in that tooth and will eventually continue to propagate until which point in time it causes the tooth to fail completely. So, if you have a fractured tooth, don’t think that you have to have it removed. You just need to first find out how bad is the fracture, where does it go and can it be sealed. And that’s a great question for your dentist.