oh dear been there done that, except i was ripping open a museli bar with my teeth , a real no no, never again, and i chipped the very front of my tooth, i now have a false bit there, and i used to have perfect front teeth, this is the two top ones,now they just don't look quite the same, also have one down the side that broke off again recently, trouble with these is they are an ongoing expense the false ones only last a short time unless you can afford crowns, which are way out of my price range,honestly i am as scared of dentists as you, but if the tooth is dead you won't need your pain relief, it will hurt more getting that done than fixing the tooth, but your dentist will advise you.

Luckily for me the one i broke with ripping the m bar open is covered by our ACC here which is accident compensation,it is considered an an accident and they cover at least some of the bill forever, unless they change that, which is possible, but if you do it eating, it is not covered as that is normal part of life and not considered an accident.

Good luck with it all, and i feel for you really i do, your mouth and your pocket, take care.