What to Do if Your Tooth Chips or Breaks
Have you ever bitten down on something so hard that you chipped your tooth? Or maybe you’re experiencing tooth pain or increased sensitivity when you chew, which could indicate that you have a chipped tooth. Chipped teeth can occur due to various reasons such as trauma, biting hard foods, teeth grinding, or tooth decay. While enamel is one of the hardest tissues in the body, it is not immune to breakage. If you suspect your tooth has chipped, it’s essential to make an appointment with your local Calgary dentist as soon as possible. Chipped or broken teeth may not always be an emergency, but they can be sometimes. Your dental professional can accurately determine how severe the issue is and if you need emergency dental care.
My Tooth Chipped, and I Don’t Have Time to Schedule an Appointment. What Should I Do?
Accidents can happen at the most inconvenient times, and it can be challenging to schedule an appointment at the last minute. If your tooth has chipped, and you’re waiting for your dental appointment, you can save the chipped pieces of your tooth and preserve them in cold milk while you wait for your emergency dental appointment. If you’re bleeding, apply gauze to the affected area until the bleeding has stopped. You can also use a cold compress to reduce any swelling and numb any pain.
How Your Calgary Dentist Will Fix Your Chipped Tooth
Before treatment, your Calgary dentist may take X-rays of your teeth to determine the extent of your injury. Depending on the severity of your tooth injury and how your tooth chipped, your dental professional will use one of the following methods to fix your chipped tooth:
Dental Fillings
If you have a small chip, your dentist may use dental fillings to repair your chipped tooth. Dental fillings are a quick, safe, and easy fix. Your Calgary dentist will use composite resin to restore the chipped area.
Dental Bonding
If your chip happened in a highly visible area like your top front teeth, dental bonding or veneers would be the best option. Similar to dental fillings, your dentist will use composite resin to restore your tooth. The main difference between fillings and dental bonding is that bonding is specially made to match the natural colour of your teeth.
Dental Veneers
If you’re looking for a more permanent solution to front tooth chips, dental veneers are ideal! Veneers are custom-made shells that use porcelain or composite resin to cover the tooth.
Dental Crowns
Similar to veneers, dental crowns are made of porcelain and offer a more permanent solution to chipped teeth. The main difference is that dental crowns cover the entire tooth vs. a small section. Crowns are an excellent choice if a good portion of your tooth has been lost.
Dental Bridges
In severe cases when a chip has led to decay or infection, and your tooth has to be removed, a dental bridge will be the best choice. A dental bridge is an appliance that typically anchors to two adjacent teeth on either side of a gap resulting from a missing tooth. It consists of an artificial tooth that sits in the middle of the bridge and effectively fills the space where the missing tooth used to be. If your tooth has chipped, early treatment is vital! If left untreated, chipped and cracked teeth can result in more serious issues like tooth loss or infection. Regardless of the size of the chip, you should always schedule a dental appointment with your Calgary dental office. Our dental professionals can more accurately determine if you need emergency dental care or not. To schedule an emergency dental appointment at Chinook Mall Family Dental, call 403.252.7711, or book online.
