If you find yourself with a cracked, chipped, or broken tooth, it is essential to visit an emergency dentist without delay. Neglecting this issue can lead to dental infection requiring further invasive and expensive treatment. Don’t wait too long – act fast! Understand how to handle a chipped tooth and if it requires urgent dental care.
Should a broken or chipped tooth be treated as an urgent dental issue?
When it comes to chipped or broken teeth, the urgency of visiting a dentist depends on the size and extent of the damage. Fortunately, if you only have minor chips which are not causing any pain or discomfort, then emergency dental care might not be necessary; however, it’s still essential that you visit your dentist immediately for effective restoration.
When it comes to a severely cracked tooth and unbearable dental pain, seeking out immediate treatment is vital in order to preserve your tooth as well as relieve any distress. Don’t delay – seek help right away!
How to fix a chipped tooth?
Root canal therapy
If a chip or break in your tooth is big enough to reveal the pulp, which houses blood vessels and nerves, dangerous bacteria can penetrate it and cause serious infection. If you’ve experienced a toothache, noticed a discolouration in one of your teeth or feel sensitivity when eating hot food, it is likely that the pulp has been infected or damaged. Without the proper extraction of the dead pulp tissue, a tooth can easily become infected and require full removal. Pulp tissue can perish and, if neglected, could lead to bacterial infections that may necessitate the tooth’s extraction.
That’s why it is essential to have root canal therapy, which involves removing the decayed material from within the roots of your teeth before sealing them off for good.
In order to preserve the newly vulnerable tooth, a dental crown is frequently used as protection.
Dental bonding or filling
If you’ve unfortunately chipped away a portion of your tooth enamel, never fear. Your dentist can fix the issue with a filling! If it is visible when you smile, or on one of your front teeth, they may opt for bonding which utilises composite resin to match the colour of your teeth perfectly.
Creating a strong bond between the tooth and bonding material is an uncomplicated process that usually does not necessitate numbing of the teeth. To start, the dentist will lightly roughen up the surface of the tooth with either gel or liquid to ensure secure adhesion before applying the bonding agent. Subsequently, they adhere an adhesive material to the tooth before covering it with a natural-looking composite resin. Once they shape and mould this bonding element into a realistic dental structure, they quickly harden it using UV light.
Dental caps and dental crowns
Dental crowns and dental caps are porcelain covers made to help protect your teeth. While veneers cover only the visible surface of a tooth, crowns fully encapsulate it – making them perfect for protecting out-of-sight molars too!
Dental crowns offer a speedy solution to restore your smile and protect it from additional harm, like decay or nerve pain. Furthermore, they can help keep future issues at bay. Typically, dental crowns are the optimal way to repair broken teeth whose cracks or breaks have caused a considerable amount of damage. In order to successfully place a crown, two trips to the dentist’s clinic are necessary – the first for creating an impression of your teeth and constructing the desired crowns and then again in order to securely set them into position. To protect the damaged tooth, a temporary crown will likely be fitted in the interim.
Veneers
Porcelain veneers are an ideal solution for correcting chips on the front teeth. These thin shells of porcelain can be used to cover the entire surface while providing a thick section that fills any chipped part in order to restore it back to its original shape and appearance. If you’re looking to repair a single chipped tooth, a single dental veneer is the perfect solution.
If you’d like a more comprehensive smile makeover, however, why not opt for veneers on all your front teeth? This will give you complete restoration and leave behind only sparkling results! In a couple of short appointments, veneers can not only mend cracked teeth but also mask spaces in between teeth, even out crooked or discoloured ones, and correct your bite.
At your initial appointment, a thin layer of the surface enamel on your teeth will be eliminated to make room for custom-crafted veneers. Professional colour matching and moulding sessions are done so that each set of veneers fits perfectly onto your own unique smile. Temporary veneers are then inserted in place until you’re ready for permanent installation. On the second appointment, the temporary veneers are taken off and replaced with permanent ones that are cemented using a special ultraviolet light. This ensures they stay in place for many years to come.
Restore Your Smile at Parramatta Green Dental
At Parramatta Green Dental, our skilled dentists offer a comprehensive range of restorative dental treatments to repair a chipped tooth. Contact our practice at (02) 9538 7875 to schedule an appointment.
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
References
Chipped Tooth
https://www.healthline.com/health/chipped-tooth
Four Options For Fixing A Chipped Tooth
https://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health/dental-emergencies-and-sports-safety/fixing-a-chipped-tooth-fast#