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New cracks accompanied by pain when chewing
Treatment
Hurry to the dentist. The pain is the flexing of the tooth underlying the crack. A significant portion of the tooth may soon break away.
Worst case scenario
The crack extends into the nerve and a root canal will become necessary. Most cracked teeth that hurt will need to be crowned. Occasionally, small cracks can be fixed with fillings.
New cracks that hurt constantly
The crack probably extends well into the inner dentin layer of the tooth (near the nerve center of the tooth, called the pulp chamber, which lies just below the dentin).
Treatment
Constant pain increases the chance that the nerve is affected and a root canal will be necessary prior to crowning. While crowning is usually necessary, a filling or onlay filling, which covers the tops or cusps of the teeth, may solve the problem.
Old cracks in teeth
Old cracks that run parallel to the length of the teeth and appear on several teeth, but are not accompanied by pain
Treatment
There's a high probability that these teeth are fine. Surface cracks commonly appear as part of the aging process and often do not cause any problems.