SYMPTOM
Broken or chipped tooth
Owners typically spot a visibly broken or chipped tooth after chewing something hard, such as a bone, antler, or stone, or notice a rough or discoloured edge that looks different from the teeth around it.
Enamel-Only Chip
A small chip confined to the outer enamel layer, without exposing the darker dentine or pink pulp beneath, is largely a cosmetic finding in many cases and does not necessarily indicate ongoing pain. These are common after chewing on hard toys, bones, or stones, and the tooth often remains structurally sound afterwards. Telling a chip that is genuinely confined to enamel apart from one that has also exposed the underlying dentine is not always straightforward by eye alone, and studies of fractures with no visible pulp exposure have found that a proportion show infection at the root tip on dental radiographs despite an outwardly unremarkable appearance, so a chip that looks minor does not reliably rule out deeper involvement. Radiographs, rather than appearance alone, are what characterise the extent of the damage.
Complicated Crown Fracture With Pulp Exposure
Where the fracture extends into the pulp chamber, visible as a pink or dark central spot on the broken surface, the nerve and blood supply of the tooth are exposed to the oral environment. This pattern is associated with ongoing discomfort and gives bacteria a direct route to the tooth root, and pulp tissue exposed in this way typically undergoes progressive inflammation and, without intervention, infection at the root tip over time.
Tooth Resorption Weakening The Crown
In cats particularly, tooth resorption is a common process where tooth structure is gradually broken down from within, leaving a crown that can fracture with minimal force during normal chewing. A tooth that breaks during soft food or gentle play, rather than during hard chewing, points toward this underlying weakening rather than acute trauma. This process is separate from decay and reflects an active resorptive change within the tooth itself.
Periodontal Disease Undermining The Tooth
Longstanding gum and bone loss around a tooth root can leave the crown poorly supported, so a tooth chips or fractures under everyday forces that a healthily rooted tooth would tolerate. This is more common in small and toy breed dogs with crowded dentition and in older cats and dogs generally, and often sits alongside visible tartar or mobility in neighbouring teeth.
Acute Trauma
A fall, road traffic incident, or altercation with another animal can fracture a tooth as an isolated finding or alongside other injuries such as facial swelling or jaw asymmetry. Trauma-related fractures often affect the canine teeth or incisors specifically, given their prominent position at the front of the mouth.
Why timing matters
Early observation
In the hours to days after a fracture, the appearance of the exposed surface is the most informative feature: a fracture that has not exposed the pulp carries a different picture to one that has, and this distinction is easiest to make while the injury is fresh.
Later presentation
Over subsequent weeks, an exposed pulp left unaddressed typically undergoes necrosis, meaning the visible pink centre darkens and the nerve dies, after which apparent discomfort may paradoxically seem to lessen even as infection develops at the root tip.
This is a case where reduced apparent discomfort over time does not indicate resolution; a fractured tooth that stops looking painful weeks after the event has often simply moved from an acutely sensitive exposed nerve to a chronically infected, non-vital tooth root.
Conditions commonly associated
Dental Disease in Dogs
Fractured teeth are frequently found alongside broader periodontal disease, and the two processes can compound each other's effect on tooth stability and pain.
Periodontal Disease
Bone and attachment loss around a tooth root reduces the support available to the crown, predisposing it to fracture under normal forces.
Tooth Resorption
The internal breakdown of tooth structure characteristic of resorption can leave a crown structurally weak enough to fracture during ordinary chewing or soft food.
Osteomyelitis
Untreated infection tracking from a fractured tooth root can extend into the surrounding jawbone, producing a deeper bone infection.
When to explore further
A visible pink or dark spot at the centre of the broken surface, rather than a uniform white or cream colour throughout, distinguishes a fracture into the pulp from a surface-only chip and changes how the finding is best characterised.
A tooth that breaks during soft food, gentle chewing, or with no clear preceding event may point toward an underlying process such as resorption rather than one-off trauma.
Persistent reluctance to chew on one side, dropping food, or pawing at the mouth in the days following a chip suggests ongoing discomfort worth having characterised.
Facial swelling, particularly below the eye, or a draining tract on the face can indicate infection tracking from a fractured tooth root and benefits from being looked at.
Multiple teeth affected at once, or a pattern of repeated fractures over time, points toward a generalised dental or resorptive process rather than an isolated mechanical event.
A close, well-lit photograph of the broken surface, including whether a pink or dark centre is visible, gives useful documentation of the fracture type. Noting which side of the mouth the pet chews on, whether food is dropped, and whether the pet paws at its face helps build a picture of ongoing discomfort. Keeping a note of what was being chewed when the fracture occurred, and whether it has happened before, adds context on recurrence.
Last reviewed: 13 September 2026 · Dr Alastair Greenway MRCVS