6 Common Solutions For a Chipped Tooth

Cavities, injury, poor oral care, bruxism, or biting down on hard substances, whether voluntarily done or accidentally, end up giving you a chipped tooth.

Usually, people don't worry about a chipped tooth until it causes pain or leads to cosmetic issues.

Fortunately, plenty of options exist to treat the chipped tooth and get your big, healthy smile back.

If you want to learn how to fix a chipped tooth, you will find the details in this blog.

So, continue reading!

3 Different Kinds of Chipped Tooth 

Let's look at the types of a chipped tooth:

1.Chipped Front Tooth

A chipped front tooth is not only painful, but it also looks bad.

If a major break occurs on a front tooth, incisor, or any other noticeable teeth, your dentist may suggest bonding, veneers, or even dental crowns.

2.Chipped Back Teeth 

Although a chipped front tooth may appear more serious, chipped rear teeth or molars can cause just as much discomfort.

3.Chipped Molar Tooth

Even though they are not as noticeable when you open your mouth, broken molars can be just as uncomfortable and problematic as chipped front teeth.

Since the second lower molar requires the most force during chewing, it is thought to be the most susceptible to chipping. Fillings are typically used to fix cracked teeth in molars.

How to Fix Chipped Tooth

These are the treatments for a chipped tooth:

1.Dental Crown or Cap

A crown, or tooth-shaped cap, is used to preserve and improve the appearance of a tooth that has broken off in size or has significant decay. In these situations, the dentist may grind or remove some of the remaining teeth. 

Metal, porcelain bonded to metal, resin, or ceramic can all be used to create permanent crowns. Benefits vary with varieties of fillings for chipped teeth. The strongest crowns are made of all metal. 

Crowns made of porcelain and resin can be created to resemble the original tooth almost exactly.

Process of Placing a Dental Crown 

When the tooth's crown breaks off, but the root remains intact, an endodontist or dentist may use the root canal process.

They may insert a pin or post into the tooth's canal, which will provide a sufficient foundation for the placement of a crown. The pin or post-retained restoration can then be covered by a crown that the dentist cements.

The dentist will numb the chipped tooth and gums, then extract enough of the remaining tooth to make room for a crown if no more issues are found.

Your dentist can use a filler material to strengthen the tooth and support a crown if a break or chip has removed a significant portion of the tooth.

After that, the dentist will imprint the tooth that will receive the crown and the tooth that it will touch when you bite down using a substance that resembles putty. 

The lab that creates the crown receives the imprints. Alternatively, your dentist may install a temporary acrylic or thin metal crown.

Before cementing the permanent one in place during the second session after two to three weeks, the dentist makes sure it fits your mouth.

Some may create a crown the same day without taking a putty impression with advanced digital milling equipment. 

Additionally, they may have intra-oral scanners, which produce a digital impression that is electronically filed and transmitted to a lab. 

Typically, receiving a crown necessitates two dental appointments. Your dentist may take X-rays to examine the tooth's roots and surrounding bone during the initial appointment. 

Learn more: How Much Does a Dental Crown Cost in Toronto?

2.Root Canal

If the chipped tooth is considered a fracture, you have to go through the root canal treatment. 

That means it extends all the way up into the pulp of your tooth. 

This is because the damage to the nerve in your tooth may already be permanent.

Fixing Chipped Tooth with a Root Canal Treatment

During a root canal, the professional extracts the tooth's pulp and all of its roots and cleanses the surrounding tissue thoroughly. 

Following this, the dentist will seal the area to prevent infection. To prevent you from having a missing tooth, a dental implant and crown may be placed in this region at a later date.

3.Bonding or Dental Fillings

Dental bonding is the first repair solution the dentist may suggest to you. 

In general, bonding is common if the chipped tooth has minor damage.

For instance, a tiny piece of tooth enamel that has chipped off. 

Then, to fill the chip and produce a smooth repair, bonding entails molding a tooth-colored composite resin over the portion of the tooth that is still healthy. 

Process of Getting Dental Fillings

After the tooth is etched to provide a rough surface on which the bond can adhere, the bonding is cemented to the tooth.

This procedure is not frightening or very painful. In fact, it doesn't call for anesthetic or numbing.

The dentist will harden the material with ultraviolet light to produce an extremely durable surface.

With proper maintenance, it should last up to ten years. 

4.Veneers 

A dental veneer can refresh the appearance of wholeness and health to a chipped tooth. 

A dental veneer is a narrow layer of material that covers the entire front of a tooth, such as tooth-colored porcelain or resin composite.

Related Blog: How Comfortable Are Today’s Porcelain Veneers?

Process of Veneer Placement 

Your dentist will remove between 0.3 and 1.2 millimeters of enamel from the surface of your tooth to prepare it.

After that, the dentist will take an impression of the tooth and forward it to a dental lab to make the veneer. 

You will need to return to the dentist to have the veneer placed when it is ready, which is often a week or two later.

Your dentist will initially use a substance to roughen the tooth's surface in order to put the veneer. 

The dentist then places the veneer on the prepared tooth after dental cement is applied to it. 

After positioning the veneer, your dentist will use a special light to activate the cement's ingredients, causing them to set more quickly.

5.Tooth Extraction 

Not every tooth break requires extraction. Sometimes, all a patient needs is a straightforward dental bonding procedure to fix a chipped tooth. 

It is contingent upon the extent of the damage.

If it fractures or cracks near the gum line, extraction is necessary. This protects the nerve in the tooth and the health of your jaw.

Make contact quickly with your family dentist as soon as you experience a crack or break. 

Sometimes, the tooth damage is so severe that the only option to maintain your jawline and dental health is to opt for a tooth extraction treatment.

Teeth that are loose will also require extraction. 

Having a loose tooth may cause your other teeth to move and harm your bite since teeth help hold your jawbones in place.

6.Dental Implants

Restoring a chipped tooth with a dental implant would be the final resort.

This approach should only be used for the worst cracks, where there is minimal tooth visible above the gum line. 

It is a one-time treatment, so it may seem more expensive than the other options.

Process of Dental Implants

Your dentist would extract the tooth and wait for it to recover before placing the implant. 

After your gums heal, a permanent metal post will be implanted into your gum line. 

Eventually, a dental implant that mimics the appearance and feel of a natural tooth will be placed into the post. 

Similar to fingerprints, no two teeth emergencies are the same. Therefore, the dentist must perform a thorough checkup. 

How to Handle a Tooth Injury

If the tooth has come loose from its socket, try to put it back in by holding it by the crown with a gauze pad.

You can give the tooth a water rinse if it appears to be dirty. 

Avoid using any kind of scrubber or other cleaning solution to wipe off any tissue fragments.

You can put it in a glass of milk, saline solution, or water if you are unable to get it into the socket. Aim to see the dentist in half an hour.

Pain Alleviation For a Chipped Tooth

To minimize swelling, you can try simple remedies. For instance, rinse your mouth with warm water and apply cold compresses to the outer region every few minutes.

Anti-inflammatories and over-the-counter (OTC) pain medicines are acceptable, but you should take them only as directed.

Clove oil is another option for the affected area. Eugenol is a numbing agent with anti-inflammatory qualities that you can get from this oil.

You can wrap the sharp edge of a little chipped tooth with dental wax to prevent it from cutting your tongue or breaking your mouth. 

If you have a big chip in your tooth or a portion of it is missing, you shouldn't floss since you risk breaking off more of the tooth.

Dental wax comes in handy in these situations as a temporary solution.

To ease pressure and discomfort, consider flossing around the tooth rather than chewing on the side that has the damage.

FAQs

How to fix a chipped tooth at home?

You cannot treat your chipped tooth without going to the dentist. Every remedy you will find online would be a temporary solution, for example, using dental wax.

How much is it to fix a chipped tooth?

Depending on the type of treatment you choose, the price will vary greatly.

How do you fix chipped teeth from grinding teeth?

The restorative treatment for people who have one or more chipped teeth can get dental caps, composite fillings, and porcelain veneers.

In Conclusion 

These are the treatments for a chipped tooth. Depending on the kind and extent of the damage, dental bonding, crown placement, porcelain veneer placement, and root canal are all viable options.

As per your situation, the dentist will select the one that works best for you.

Regardless of the chipped tooth treatment you take, continuing good dental hygiene will only keep your restored tooth strong.

Do you live in Canada and need help with your chipped tooth? Contact the KWC Dental.