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Emergency!
Where to look first when a tooth gets hurt or something urgent happens.
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Emergency!
Part of a tooth has broken away. This page explains what has happened and what a dentist may do. Guidance for the first few minutes is being written by a pediatric dentist — until it is here, contact your dentist.
Call your dentist or your local emergency number.
This section is waiting for reviewed guidance. Step-by-step advice for the first few minutes is being written by a pediatric dentist and has deliberately not been drafted here. Until it appears, contact your dentist or your local emergency services — they can tell you what to do for your child now.
This section is waiting for reviewed guidance too. Things to avoid are as important as things to do, and both belong with the dentist who is writing them rather than with this website.
A piece of the tooth has fractured off. That can range from a small chip in the enamel to a break that reaches the softer layers underneath or the living tissue inside the tooth. What is visible from outside does not reliably tell you how deep the break goes, which is the main reason a broken tooth is looked at rather than watched.
If a fragment is missing and has not been found, mention that when you call. The AAPD states that when a tooth fragment remains unaccounted for, radiographs are required to rule out its having been inhaled or come to rest in the surrounding soft tissue — a lip laceration being the example it gives.
What a dentist does depends on how much of the tooth is affected and whether the living tissue inside is involved. The AAPD’s restorative guidance describes crowns as one option for the intermediate restoration of fractured teeth, and its trauma guidance lists stabilisation and splinting among interventions that may be required. Where the pulp is involved, pulp treatment may come into the conversation.
Expect an examination and probably an X-ray before anything is decided. Which of these applies to your child’s tooth is not something this page can tell you.
A little piece of your tooth broke off. That happens to lots of people. The dentist has ways to make it smooth and comfortable again.
It looks small — do we still need to go? Ring your dentist and describe it. How a break looks from the outside does not reliably indicate how deep it goes, and a small visible chip can sit above a larger problem. Letting the dentist decide costs a phone call.
That is a question for your dentist, who can see how deep the break goes and whether the living tissue inside the tooth is involved. This page cannot assess it. What can be said is that appearance alone is not a reliable guide, which is why the advice is to ring rather than to judge it at home.
Take it with you and mention it when you call. Separately, if a piece is missing and has not been found, say so — the AAPD states radiographs are required to rule out an unaccounted fragment having been aspirated or lodged in surrounding tissue.
The considerations differ, because a baby tooth has a permanent successor developing beneath it and a limited time left in the mouth. Your dentist will weigh that. If the tooth was knocked out rather than broken, see Knocked-out baby tooth or Knocked-out permanent tooth.
Every clinical statement on this page comes from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry document below. The step-by-step guidance in the sections above is being written separately by a pediatric dentist and is not drawn from this source.
This website is for education only and does not replace care from your dentist, physician, or emergency services.