Cracked front tooth... Can it be saved?

[AmeetRules]

I just got out of the dentists office and they told me that my top front tooth (tooth 9) has a horizontal crack/fracture. The nerve in the tooth is also dead and the canal has calcified.The tooth is very loose now. I will be seeing an endodontist in a couple weeks.

I just wanted some opinions from anyone about whether or not the tooth could be possibly saved? I was told that you need to have finished growing (age around 20-25) to get dental implants but since I am only 19 years old, what would happen to my tooth if they cannot save it?

 

[MountainMama]

Yikes! I hope someone can give you some good advice. I had a trauma to my front tooth #8 as a child, and it was broken, and apparently the nerve died (although I didn't know it at the time). It gave me no trouble for 30 years (just a filling to fix the break), and just abscessed this year. I had a root canal, and am waiting to see if it was successful or if I have to get an implant. The apex was open since the nerve died before my tooth had finished growing.

As far as implants, I may be wrong, so someone else can jump in on this one, but I thought you just had to have a fully developed jaw. One of my friend's daughters, who is 17 just got implants for two molars she had to have pulled.

 

[Sevena]

Only your dentist can give an accurate prognosis (long-term diagnosis) for your tooth, I'm afraid!

But, whatever happens, you will not be left with a gap in your smile. There are many options to replace a tooth. More people than you'd expect have a visible tooth or teeth missing. They may have had implants, and some of them will have been given partial dentures, either temporarily or permanently. Partial dentures, while it sounds like an old-person kind of thing, are fairly common and not noticeable (I was stunned, as a teen, to learn my mother's best friend had partial dentures replacing her front teeth on the upper jaw. It was not noticeable at all, and I genuinely thought she just had naturally really nice teeth).

I am not saying you will need a partial denture, because I don't know. As MountainMama said, these teeth can often be kept for a long time. I just want to reassure you that, no matter what, there is a solution to keep your smile beautiful, and none of them will affect your ability to eat, drink, date, and everything else, even if you do lose the tooth. And no one can predict that but a specialist.

So please take heart. You'll be fine.

 

[Gordon]

There's a nice thing called a Maryland Bridge that's ideal for use in your circumstances, google it.

Even if your tooth is unsaveable and you're too young for implants, you can get one of these for a few years to tide you over.

I had a patient with cerebral palsy who had a missing front tooth due to trauma when he was smaller, CP patients tend to fall over a lot.

With a bit of help from my orthodontist colleague we created a nice space, which I then fitted a Maryland bridge into. When he was old enough for an implant, I got a favour from my Maxillofacial surgeon colleague to do the implant surgery and I'd do a crown on the implant, all free of charge on the NHS... unfortunately (!) he was so happy with the Maryland that he turned down the free implant

As far as I know, he's still happily going about with the Maryland...

 

[krlovesherkids777]

Ameetrules,

I hope you can find a good solution to make you happy with your front teeth and smile and function! Would love to hear more as you go along.

What a great story Gordon... Sounds like quite a happy ending..

 

[AmeetRules]

There's a nice thing called a Maryland Bridge that's ideal for use in your circumstances, google it.

Even if your tooth is unsaveable and you're too young for implants, you can get one of these for a few years to tide you over.

I had a patient with cerebral palsy who had a missing front tooth due to trauma when he was smaller, CP patients tend to fall over a lot.

With a bit of help from my orthodontist colleague we created a nice space, which I then fitted a Maryland bridge into. When he was old enough for an implant, I got a favour from my Maxillofacial surgeon colleague to do the implant surgery and I'd do a crown on the implant, all free of charge on the NHS... unfortunately (!) he was so happy with the Maryland that he turned down the free implant

As far as I know, he's still happily going about with the Maryland...

Is that patient able to bite with that tooth? I definitely will do anything so I do not have any gaps in teeth but I still do want to be sure that I am able to eat properly and normally as well.

 

[Gordon]

Is that patient able to bite with that tooth?

Absolutely. The only thing I warned him about was opening bottles with it