Chipping your tooth while eating something hard can be an unpleasant experience. How should you handle it when you’ve chipped a tooth?
Well, the first action to take is to use warm water to rinse your mouth. Then you should apply a cold compress to your face to bring down the swelling. When that’s done, be sure to call a dentist.
You have a range of options for fixing your chipped tooth. Dr. Mike or Dr. Dave can determine which one will work best. These are some of the options and a brief overview of what they involve.
Dental Bonding
Your dentist can fill the area that was chipped with a special resin colored like natural teeth. When this is complete, the formerly-chipped tooth will look no different than the rest of the teeth.
Tooth Reshaping
In this method, a minor amount of the enamel of the tooth that was chipped will be removed, and the surface of the tooth will be smoothed, eliminating any sign that the damage ever happened. This technique is used for minor chips and isn’t a good solution to treat significant damage.
Veneers
Dental veneers are thin, strong shells that can be bonded with the front of a tooth, covering the damaged area, improving the appearance and restoring the strength of the tooth. They also add an extra layer of protection to the tooth that was chipped.
Dental Crowns
Crowns will address the chip by covering the visible part of your tooth. These crowns are made to feel and look like normal teeth. It is basically a cap made to resemble a tooth which protects the tooth from further damage.
Let’s cover some of the ways people manage to chip their teeth.
- Biting something hard
- Weakened enamel due to cavities
- Using teeth to open something or hold something
- Bruxism
- Using water fountains
- Chipped while undergoing intubation
- Broken in a car accident
If you, or someone you know, has chipped a tooth, you should call us as soon as you can.
