What You Should Know About a Chipped Tooth

chipped tooth

By one means or another, you have chipped a tooth. More than marring your smile, chipped teeth can upset the whole of your oral health. For more information on what you and your dentist can do about a chipped tooth, please continue reading, then contact one of our experienced general dentistry dentists located in Basking Ridge and Morristown, NJ today.

How do you get a chipped tooth?

While the enamel on your teeth is relatively strong, teeth can chip for a multitude of reasons, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The impact of falling
  • Chewing a hard piece of candy
  • Tooth decay
  • Bruxism, i.e. nighttime teeth grinding

How do you stop your teeth from chipping?

Assuming it is not already too late to prevent, here is what you should do and should not do to stop your teeth from chipping:

Do:

  • Reduce your sugar content
  • Limit acidic foods and beverages
  • Get treatment for your acid reflux
  • Get treatment for teeth grinding or clenching
  • Take in enough vitamins and minerals

Don’t:

  • Chew ice or hard candy
  • Open items with your teeth

What happens if you do not treat a chipped tooth?

Without professional treatment, the broken tooth is susceptible to an infection that will only get worse over time. This infection can move to the neck and head, causing all sorts of health problems. While rare, it is possible for a chipped tooth to prove life-threatening. At a minimum, it may prove detrimental to your oral health, possibly even causing you to lose one or more of your teeth.

How does a Basking Ridge, New Jersey dentist treat chipped teeth?

While the discomforting symptoms may go away with a minor chip, chipped teeth do not heal on their own and require care from a dental professional. If you have chipped off just a small piece of tooth enamel, your dentist may repair the damage with a filling. If the repair is to a front tooth or can be seen when you smile, your dentist will likely use a procedure called bonding, which uses a tooth-colored composite resin. Depending on the extent of the damage, your dentist may perform the repair in one office visit. A badly damaged or broken tooth may require a more lengthy and costly procedure.

Rest assured that the teeth bonding procedure is relatively painless. Most likely, you will not even need pain relievers. However, you may experience some tooth sensitivity to heat and cold after the procedure. If you have any questions about this or other aspects of dental health, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team today.

Contact The Dental Associates of Basking Ridge

Please contact us today to schedule an appointment if you have any dental issues.

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