Cracked Tooth

I recently had a patient present to my office with a chief complaint that when he bites he experiences severe pain. The radiograph of the tooth he was complaining about showed no problems. When I asked him to bite down on a soft plastic stick he experienced the pain. I explained that he was suffering from a cracked tooth. We opened the tooth to explore the area and sure enough there was a crack extending from the outside of the tooth to the pulpal chamber (where the nerve exists). We performed root canal therapy, a post and core and a crown. The patient tolerated the procedures well and luckily he was able to save this tooth.