Chipped teeth are common, but it’s easy to have concerns about the health of your teeth when you experience a chip. Additionally, chipped teeth can cause you to feel insecure about the appearance of your smile. Fortunately, treating a chipped tooth is an easy and painless process as long as you see a dentist quickly after the chip. You must also be careful with the tooth until your dentist restores it.
Lovett Dental Jersey Village offers several procedures for fixing chipped teeth, including dental veneers, dental crowns, and other general dentistry services. Schedule an appointment today to learn more about your options.
Speed Is Essential in Treating a Chipped Tooth
You want to see a dentist as soon as possible when you chip your tooth to prevent more damage. Until your dentist appointment, avoid eating hard foods and biting down on the tooth. If your tooth hurts, regularly rinse with salt water and take acetaminophen or another pain reliever. If your chipped tooth has a sharp or jagged edge, you can cover it with a bit of paraffin wax to avoid cutting into your gums or your tongue. If you don’t have wax paraffin, sugarless chewing gum is an emergency substitute.
If you experience a chip on the weekend, finding a dentist that offers Saturday appointments can help you restore your smile right away.
Dental Filling and Sealants for a Chipped Tooth
Often, all you need for a small chip on your tooth is a dental filling or a sealant. A filling is a resin that hardens in the crack of your tooth. It protects your teeth from decay and plaque. Dental fillings are easy to clean when you’re brushing your teeth. Sealants protect your enamel, which might have been damaged as a result of the chip.
If your chipped tooth is visible when you smile, we may recommend dental bonding. This is similar to a dental filling. We create a bonding material designed to fit onto your unique tooth. To help it stick more securely to your tooth, we roughen the surface of your tooth. After applying the bonding to your chipped tooth, we harden it with ultraviolet light. Our dental bonding procedure usually only requires one visit. Dental fillings and bondings aren’t painful or uncomfortable procedures.
A Chipped Front Tooth
Many people worry about a front tooth chip, but we can fix this through dental veneers. Dental veneers are thin porcelain shells that we sculpt to mimic a real tooth. We attach a temporary veneer to your tooth during your first visit to protect the tooth while you wait on the permanent veneers. It takes us some time to create the permanent veneers. We use high-quality porcelain to create your dental veneers. This material resists staining from red wine, coffee, and other foods. Additionally, dental veneers can be made to closely match your existing teeth and can give you the smile you want.
Dental Crown for a Chipped Tooth
We may have to give you a dental crown if your chipped tooth has significant decay or a large break. Dental crowns cover your tooth and mimic its original shape and size. We create dental crowns out of porcelain to match the color of your tooth. They typically last several years. As with some other dental procedures, we may need to file away part of your damaged tooth before attaching the dental crown.
How to Fix Exposed Pulp
Some tooth chips expose the pulp, which is a bundle of nerves and blood vessels in the center of your tooth. You’ll need root canal therapy if this is the case. Treating an exposed root canal is important in preventing infections. Warning signs that you have an exposed pulp include changes in color, pain, and sensitivity to heat. General dentists and endodontists can perform root canal therapy.
You might need a dental crown in addition to root canal therapy. Teeth are usually weakened after a root canal, which is why a dental crown becomes necessary.
Lovett Dental Jersey Village Is Here to Help
Many people worry that root canal therapy will hurt, but it doesn’t cause a lot of pain or discomfort. Lovett Dental Jersey Village offers sedation dentistry if you still feel scared or anxious about undergoing a needed dental procedure. Our compassionate dentists are willing to answer your questions to help ease your concerns as well.
Treating a chipped or broken tooth is a much easier process than many people expect. When you schedule an appointment with your dentist, you will likely only need one of the above procedures to restore your beautiful smile. Delaying in seeking professional treatment results in more damage to your teeth. In the worst-case scenario, an ignored chipped tooth becomes bad enough to require extraction. Contact Lovett Dental Jersey Village at 281-890-5002 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced, compassionate dentists.
