How do I know if I have a cracked tooth?

A tooth that is cracked can be painful. A crack can also lead to disease of the tooth. How do you know if you have a cracked tooth? Look for these signs:

• You have sharp pain when biting down that quickly disappears.
• You have pain that comes and goes, but does not hurt all the time.
• You feel pain when eating or drinking.
• You may have no pain at all.

It can be hard to tell if you have a cracked tooth. If you have pain, you may not even be able to tell which tooth hurts or whether the pain is from an upper or lower tooth.