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Looking for a caring and professional dental practice? We’re excited to welcome new patients to our clinic! Whether you’re due for a check-up, need treatment, or are looking to enhance your smile, our friendly team is here to help.
Contact us today to book your first appointment—we look forward to meeting you!

Broken teeth

Our teeth are very strong but despite this, the stresses and strains of our everyday life can still cause them to chip, crack or break.

Common cause of these breaks can include:

  • Chewing on hard foods
  • Facial trauma following an accident
  • Damage from a sports injury
  • Untreated cavities causing the tooth to become brittle and break
  • Old, large amalgam fillings, where the remaining structure of the natural tooth can become brittle

Broken teeth can cause varying degrees of pain, from extremely painful, to discomfort triggered by hot or cold foods or drink, even to no signs of immediate pain. However, in order to prevent further damage or infection which could result in the loss of the tooth, it’s important to book an appointment with your Titchfield Dental Health dentist as soon as possible.

Treatment of a broken or chipped tooth will depend on how severely it is damaged. For small breaks or chips it may be possible to repair in a single visit with a simple filling or bonding. For more severe breaks, multiple visits may be required to repair the break with multiple treatments.

Treatment for fractures and broken teeth

Teeth with minor chips on the edges usually don’t cause any pain or problems, but your Titchfield Dental Health dentist will most likely repair a chip by smoothing the edge and inserting a tooth-coloured filling to prevent it from cutting your lips or tongue.

Heavily fractured and seriously broken teeth may need more complex treatment. For instance, a large cavity that causes a major fracture or break, causing pain and infection, may need root canal treatment. Cracks and breaks may expose your nerve endings, making the teeth sensitive to hot and cold air and foods.

Root canal treatment isn’t always necessary if your teeth are chipped or broken, though. Where there’s no pain or infection, cracks are filled and bound together with a specialised tooth cement, while a broken tooth will be fixed with a crown. Crowns are also used as part of the treatment for other types of splits and breaks, such as broken cusps, split roots/vertical breaks, split molars, and as a buttress against further cracks. If your tooth has decayed from the inside-out and is now broken, your Titchfield Dental Health dentist may recommend that your tooth is removed.

Sometimes, if you have a cracked or broken tooth, it may not be noticeable because it doesn’t hurt. But no matter how minor these problems are, they should still be investigated by your dentist, as infections can arise if the problem isn’t treated with antibiotics. The best course of action is, as always, a good oral hygiene regime and regular reviews with the dentist.

What to do if you break your tooth

If you’ve fractured or broken a tooth, follow these steps immediately before booking an appointment with Titchfield Dental Health.

  • Rinse your mouth out with warm water
  • Apply pressure on any bleeding areas using gauze or a wet teabag
  • Apply an icepack to your cheek if there’s any swelling
  • If you have access to it, cover any major cracks with temporary dental cement
  • If it’s painful, use an over the counter pain reliever such as paracetamol
  • Cover any broken teeth with milk, saliva or saline solution

As with any teeth problems, if you have fractured or chipped a tooth it's important to book an appointment at Titchfield Dental Health to see a dentist as soon as possible, rather than waiting for routine dental health review. We will discuss the best method of repairing the break with you.

At Titchfield Dental Health in Southampton we use resin composite fillings to match the colour of your teeth and ensure a long-lasting and natural-looking result. We also offer porcelain crowns, inlays and onlays as successful options for repairing cracked, broken, decayed or heavily filled teeth. They are hardwearing and can be colour-matched perfectly to your own teeth.

If you would like to discuss concerns with any broken or chipped teeth give us a call on 01489 581158.

Patient Reviews

People are talking about us

The biggest complement we receive is when our patients refer their friends and family to Titchfield Dental Health. In fact, we have built much of our practice on these valued, trusted recommendations over the years. Read our reviews to hear why our patients are recommending us…

Patient reviews

799 Reviews

5.0
GG

Graham Robert Gibbs

A very professional team to look after your teeth

GZ

George Zenin

Lovely dentist. Quick service.

12th July 2025

Pleasant, friendly staff, excellent quality of care and advice on future needs.

LA

Lynne Anderson

Great service. I hate having my teeth cleaned but Linda is so patient, kind and empathetic. She does a brilliant job! Highly recommend

9th July 2025

My previous experience at another dental surgery was terrible. Titchfield practice is top class

9th July 2025

All staff very friendly. Clean environment, highly recommend.

5th July 2025

Listened to my needsOffered and delivered plan of careAll staff professional polite and helpfulwrt q about recommending to friend/family I wouldn’t offer unsolicited recommendation

5th July 2025

Ruth the hygienist always explains what she is going to do and checks i am comfortable during the procedure so the appointment is very relaxed

5th July 2025

Excellent service as always by everyone

5th July 2025

I needed an emergency appointment which was arranged over the phone at short notice. The treatment was thorough and all staff involved professional and kind

5th July 2025

Excellent professional team

4th July 2025

Everyone make you feel welcome and are very friendly. All staff put you at ease. I have been attending Titchfield for a long time now and it’s like seeing old friends when I go.

4th July 2025

Staff are always so friendly. Knowing I’m a very nervous patient they are always happy to adapt working styles to help keep me calm

3rd July 2025

Ruth is so caring and professional. She apologised that she could not use the air flow because of the fire. Given that she and all the staff are working with building/ repairs going on they were all brilliant

LS

Liz Smart

I have only been twice so far, but I wanted to review on first experience. I am a very nervous patient and my fear has made me unable to have any treatment done for years. As soon as I made the call to book an appointment I knew it was the right decision. All the staff have been kind and helpful. Anya has the ability to put even the most nervous of people at ease. She is a real gem. She made me like I mattered and was being listened to. Definitely going back for more treatment

26th June 2025

All of the team are so lovely and friendly. Everything is always very well explained and they do everything possible to make you feel at ease

26th June 2025

Ruth was brilliant as usual and realised how hard I have worked on my dental hygiene. I had broken a temporary Ceric and Manos fitted me in to repair as he listened when I explained I did not want to loose the tooth but it was not a good time for me to have this treatment done . Top marks everyone Thankyou

19th June 2025

Professional approach from all concerned. Friendly and clean environment.

15th June 2025

The practice is consistently excellent. Professional, Caring and Friendly.

SW

Semi-retired of Warsash

Being somebody who has had a dental surgery phobia since childhood I was not looking forward to having a large molar crowned due to cracking. I shouldn't have worried as the whole process was completed by Anya over 2 sessions within 3 hours with no pain whatsoever. No waiting for weeks for the crown to be made as they do it in-house. Even the injections were painless ...

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