Cracked tooth syndrome: Overview of literature

Pain is defined as an "unpleasant sensory and emotional feeling which is associated with actual or potential injury of tissue or expressed in terms of such injury." Tooth pain usually refers to pain around the teeth or jaws mainly as a result of a dental condition. Mostly, toothaches are caused by a carious cavity, a broken tooth, an exposed tooth root or gum disease. The toothache may sometimes be the result of radiating pain from structures in the vicinity of tooth and jaws (cardiac pain, ear, nose, throat pain, and sinusitis). Therefore, evaluation by both dentists and physicians are sometimes necessary to diagnose medical illnesses causing "toothache." Cracked tooth syndrome is a major diagnostic challenge in clinical practice. Accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment are complicated due to lack of awareness of this condition and its bizarre clinical features. Early diagnosis has been linked with successful restorative management and good prognosis. This article provides a detailed literature on the causes, classification, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment planning of cracked tooth syndrome.