Chipped Tooth & Chipped Tooth Repair

San Antonio Dental Office

Chipped Tooth Repair options explained

A chipped tooth can be ugly, sharp and uncomfortable. When the tooth breaks apart, it opens the door to bacteria that can cause infections, toothaches and additional breaks. Chipped tooth repair can be as simple as a tooth colored filling or as complex as a root canal and crown. Keep reading to find out more about how to fix a chipped tooth.

Teeth live under a lot of pressure – No wonder they crack up sometimes!

Trauma, olive pits, nut shells and elbows to the mouth happen to the best of us. Sometimes an unhealthy bite is the problem! 

Chipped and fractured teeth

Chipped Tooth Repair

Depending on how bad it the damage is,  chipped tooth repair can be as simple as bonding on new tooth-colored fillings or creating a whole new “tooth” with a post and crown. The goal is to replace the lost part of the the tooth and supporting what’s left of the tooth. How to fix a chipped tooth depends on how much broke off.

 

Chipped and fractured teeth

Fractured teeth

Actual Patient Before/After

Fractured teeth repaired by Dr. Bec.

Fractured teeth repaired by Dr. Bec.

Why repair Damage No one can see?

When people chip a front tooth, it definitely looks bad and usualy want to fix it. When it’s in the back of the mouth, though, it’s easier to ignore because no one can see it. Why spend money of fixing a chipped tooth with no pain that no one can see! Before you decide that repairing that back tooth is a waste, remember that a broken tooth has an increased risk of infection, root canals & toothaches. If the thought of an incoming toothache doesn’t bother you, that’s up to you.

Fractured teeth repaired by Dr. Bec.

Fractured teeth infection risk

How do chipped teeth become toothaches?

Picture a tooth. Did you picture something white? When we think about our pearly whites, we normally picture the hard outer protective layer of white enamel that we see. We rarely stop to think about what’s inside the tooth: soft yellow dentin and the living nerve. When a tooth chips, it loses protective white enamel. That leaves it exposed. Now bacteria and junk can walk right in to the softer inner layer of dentin. Dentin is more sensitive to temperature, pain and infection. When the tooth’s protective layer is chipped away, a tooth is headed for trouble. Wanna learn more? Read this interesting Colgate article.

Click below to learn more about how we fix fractured teeth

Crowns

Crowns: When Teeth Crack Up

Cracked teeth eventually break. Fillings eventually fail.

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