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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 Sturminster Dental Care 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 Sturminster Dental Care 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 Sturminster Dental Care 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 Sturminster Dental Care.

  • 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 Sturminster Dental Care 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 Sturminster Dental Care in Sturminster Newton 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 01258 473397.

Dentist

Ian Mercer

Ian joined {{ practice_name() }} in January 2016. lan-qualified from Guys Hospital Dental School in 1991 and has spent much of his professional career in the Royal Army Dental Corps including operational commitments in many countries. lan left the army in 2012 after serving for 21 years. Ian is really enjoying being part of the team and providing the best care to all of our patients.

Ian Mercer
Patient Reviews

People are talking about us

The biggest complement we receive is when our patients refer their friends and family to Sturminster Dental Care. 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

693 Reviews

5.0

29th August 2025

Professional and friendly and respectful manner of all staff.

29th August 2025

Clinician is lovely and the reception staff are so friendly, polite and professional

29th August 2025

Friendly helpful staff, everything explained clearly, feel confident with everything there

28th August 2025

The friendliness and courtesy of the personel. I am a nervous patient and my dentist always talks to me in a relaxed and reassuring manner.

28th August 2025

Everything completed by competent and knowledgeable staff. Up to date with IT and dental practices. Everyone is welcoming, smiles and able to speak intelligible English. Thank you.

27th August 2025

All the staff from reception through to the hygienist, nurses and dentists are always welcoming and helpful . The level of care is excellent and everything is always explained.

27th August 2025

First of all, the reception staff are always pleasant and polite, and deal with you as soon as they can- sometimes the surgery is busy!Secondly, the clinician always shows proper old-fashioned courtesies when greeting you and saying goodbye after a consultation. He explains what treatment he is going to do with any possible outcomes, and always puts my mind at ease. A thoroughly easy and pleasant experience, regardless of what treatment is being performed. I have complete confidence in my dentist- and I'm sure the same can be said for all the clinicians at the practice.

27th August 2025

A problem with a previous treatment with a different dentist in the practice was sorted quickly and efficiently and more importantly cheaper than I thought it would be.

27th August 2025

I left a message on the contact form to say I had lost a crown over a bank holiday weekend. I was called early on the Tuesday and by 8.30 I had an appointment that same day. I was seen by Emmanuel, who was fabulous, explained everything clearly to a 60 year old women who hates the dentist! He and his assistant put me at ease and were fabulous. I cannot recommend highly enough. My crown was reseated and hopefully will stay in place.

24th August 2025

All staff are professional but very friendly and make you welcome. They make an effort to show they care.

23rd August 2025

Overall a good visit.

22nd August 2025

everyone is kind and friendly

21st August 2025

reception staff always friendly, warm and professional.Ian and Helen make me feel at ease and very friendly

21st August 2025

It’s close to home with pleasant, thorough, reassuring dentist & hygienist and effective treatment.

20th August 2025

Everyone was timely, courteous and professional

18th August 2025

The dentist took into account my fears and helped to alleviate some of my concerns

18th August 2025

All of the people who work there are exceptionally kind and caring putting me totally at ease. They really care about my experience with them.

13th August 2025

Staff always friendly and smiling, hygienist and dental nurse very attentive to make sure I was comfortable.

13th August 2025

Friendly highly professional staff with focus on detail. A very minor issue is that there are experienced dental professionals nearing retirement so the patient cannot always see the same clinician every time for continuity. This is okay as the standards are high and record keeping, from my experiences, good.

9th August 2025

Always given great advice, often with options, which makes me feel I have agency, a rarity in most dental care.

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