The growth and dissolution (monomer addition and dissociation) of crystals in the presence of breakage is described by a reversible distribution kinetics model based on population balance equations (PBEs). Breakage (or fragmentation) is the process by which the parent particles are broken into smaller entities of significant size. Denucleation, wherein particles smaller than the stable nucleus size dissolve instantaneously, is also included in the model. A numerical solution for the PBEs shows the evolution to a steady state crystal size. Various parameters, such as the breakage coefficient, breakage kernel, and the interfacial energy (through the Gibbs-Thomson effect), influence the crystal growth-dissolution process, and are quantified. It is shown that when crystal growth occurs with breakage, the number concentration and the average size of the crystals attain steady state even in the absence of aggregation. This steady state value of the crystal size obeys a power-law relationship with the breakage parameter. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.