Treatments to Repair Chipped Teeth
The last thing that you need to ruin your smile is a chipped tooth or teeth especially so if it is your front teeth. There are several ways you can get a chipped tooth :- a blow to the face
- a fall
- biting on something hard
- grinding your teeth
- a weak tooth caused by cavity
- a filling that falls off
How to Detect a Chipped Tooth
You may not notice immediately that your tooth has chipped if the damage is small. You would notice it if one or more of the following occurs :- if the chipped tooth is your front teeth
- if your tongue detects an uneven area on your tooth and starts grazing it frequently
- you might feel pain if the chipped tooth has caused damage to the inner tooth where the nerves are situated. If the nerves are damaged then the pain would be enough to let you know that something is wrong with your tooth.
The best thing to do is to visit your dentist.
What Would Your Dentist Do
Your dentist will be able to detect a chipped tooth immediately and he will be able to tell you the extent of the damage as well. The type of treatment will depend on his diagnosis. The following are some of the possible treatments :- Enamel Shaping / Contouring – if your tooth has just a minor chip, then this procedure will be recommended by your dentist. This is a simple procedure where the damaged tooth is either reshaped or a small portion is removed to give it an even and smoother look. The treatment is quick and painless and the result is permanent.
- Bonding – if the chip on your tooth is fairly large, then bonding will be your best option. Bonding is where your dentist will make a tooth coloured filling material made out of composite resin to fill the chipped area. Once the procedure is complete you have to make sure that you take good care of the tooth to avoid discolouration.
- Veneers – this treatment is also recommended for a fairly large chipped tooth. It is similar to bonding only that the procedure is more elaborate where the entire surface of the front teeth is covered with the tooth coloured filling material to give it a more uniformed and polished look.
- Onlays – if the chipped portion of your tooth happens to be your molar, then onlays will be the solution. The dentist would need to take an impression of your chipped tooth to make the porcelain (the most popular) onlay. Once ready, the onlay will be placed and bonded on the tooth to give it a perfect finish.
- Crowns – this treatment will be recommended only when the chipped portion is large or if the tooth is fractured. Crowns cover the entire surface of the tooth. If the chipped tooth has damaged the nerve as well then another procedure called a root canal will be performed prior to the crowning.
You should not leave your damaged tooth unattended just because it does not hurt. This is because the chipped tooth may get infected and cause severe damage to the entire tooth and if this happens then the only option would be to perform an extraction.