On a weekly basis, a patient will call your emergency dentist in Chicago to tell say that his or her tooth hurts when they chew on food.
This could be caused by biting on something in a weird direction. This will cause the tooth to be sore and there will be discomfort with chewing. This will eventually heal and the discomfort will go away.
There are other times when the patient has pain on biting because the tooth is cracked.
In this blog I will help you identify a cracked tooth.
1. Place a Q-tip on the tooth that you believe is causing the pain on chewing. Place the Q-tip on one cusp of that tooth.
2. Bite on the Q-tip and hold for 2 seconds then release. If the discomfort is worse on release than on biting then the tooth is cracked.
3. Repeat the bite test on all 4 cusps.
4. A cracked tooth will also be more sensitive to cold. Grab a piece of ice and place it on each tooth in that area.
5. The tooth that had pain with the Q-tip should also be the tooth that was sensitive to cold.
Record this information so when you go to your dentist you will have more information to provide them.
They should be able to replicate the same discomfort in their office. If they are unable to replicate discomfort, no treatment should be done.
If you are experiencing pain on biting and would like to get it checked out please call our Bucktown dental office at 773-292-1911. Ask for Katie or Zhana and let them know that you are having discomfort with chewing.
Floss like a madman!
Emilio “Crack Kills” Couret