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How To Fix A Chipped Tooth
By Buttercup 7 Day Dental 21st Sep 2017
Whether you’ve got a five year old who has a tendency to trip over his own toes, a little girl who is a keen footballer and not afraid of getting hurt, or whether you just love rock candy; this article is for you!
Anyone can chip a tooth, and sometimes all it takes is a gentle bite into a sandwich.
Although the enamel around your teeth is very strong, the strength has it’s limits, and even the strongest and healthiest of teeth can’t withstand a blow to the face. If the tooth has some decay, it is particularly vulnerable to damages.
If you’re here because you’re a curious monkey, then you’re more than welcome. It’s always good to be prepared. If you’re here because you’ve chipped a tooth, then fear not – we’ll guide you through what to do.
What to do in the moment
A tooth has been chipped. What’s done is done, and fear not- it’s highly likely that it can be fixed seamlessly.
If you’re ‘lucky’ enough to have chipped your tooth between 9am-5pm, and in our case, between 9am-8pm. Give your dentist a call as soon as you can.
It’s important that you get in touch with your dentist, as the tooth will be much more vulnerable and could be damaged further or become infected if you don’t do anything about it asap.
If the tooth or surrounding gums are sore, you can often dull the pain with some paracetamol.
If your gut says, this is a dental emergency. Then check our emergency flowchart to see what to do.
Repairing a broken tooth
There are usually four ways to repair a broken tooth, the repair depends on how much of the tooth has been chipped and how much damage it has caused:
Dental filling or bonding
If you’ve chipped off a small piece of tooth, it can sometimes be fixed quick and easy with just a filling.
If the damage has been done to one of your front teeth, your dentist might suggest teeth bonding. This procedure uses a composite resin mixed to match the colour of your tooth. In other words, the fix will look as natural as possible.
Dental crown
If a larger piece of your tooth has been broken, chipped off or has a lot of decay, the dentist might need to put a new top on it, also known as a crown.
Getting a crown done usually takes a few visits to the dentist as there’s a bit more to it than just patching up what’s broken.
First your dentist might need to take some x-rays just to double check that the roots of the tooth are in top shape and haven’t been damaged.
To make sure that your new crown will fit as good as the old tooth, the dentist will make an impression of the tooth with a putty like material that will later be sent to a lab where the crown is made.
Sometimes, your dentist may place a temporary crown until the fitted one returns from the lab.
Dental veneers
If one of your front teeth have suffered a break or have been chipped, dental veneer can make it look like almost new.
A dental veneer is a thin shell that covers the whole front of the tooth, and fills the chipped bit.
To cover your tooth in veneer, the dentist will remove some of the existing enamel and roughen the surface slightly with a gel. This is to make sure that the veneer can be properly ‘cemented’ onto your tooth.
Root canal therapy
If the damage has caused exposure to the pulp of the tooth, the centre, you are going to need root canal therapy.
It’s sounds a scary word, but most root canal therapies are no more painful than having a cavity filled. And with anaesthetics, the procedure is practically painless.
Will it look like a real tooth?
Regardless of where the accident has happened in your mouth, there are ways to fix a broken or a chipped tooth almost seamlessly.
If you’ve broken or chipped a tooth, don’t hesitate to give us a call or book an appointment online. We’ll be happy to help you out, and get your tooth fixed asap.
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