Can chipped tooth be fixed? Well today you will learn if this is possible to do at home or if professional intervention will be required.
Chipped teeth more often than not cannot be fixed at home because of the severity of the case and also the experience level of the person.
Some people just don’t know what to do when faced with an uncomfortable or emergency situation. So for the majority of people out there, NO it cannot be fixed at home but there are a few things you can do to protect the tooth while you wait for a dental appointment.
Keep reading and you will know exactly what to do when faced with this situation
What Can I Do At Home To Keep Chipped Teeth From Getting Worse
Imagine crunching on a piece of hard candy or even an ice cube left over from a drink, it’s a nice soothing feeling but in an instant you realise something has fatally gone wrong.
Something in your mouth just isn’t being dissolved and you can’t chew it. This is when you realise one of your tooth has been chipped.
Even though enamel is one of the hardest mineralized tissue in the body it is still vulnerable to external factors such as:
- Falling on a hard surface
- Biting down on a hard surface
When you notice you have a broken tooth, get in contact with your dentist and book the next available appointment. If its really bad i.e your in enormous pain and bleeding quite a lot then an emergency visit will be required, but 95% of cases are not severe.
This is What You Should Do In The Meantime
- Eat soft foods – You don’t want to damage the teeth more than it already has been, so try to eat food that are easy on the teeth. This can be soup or boiled rice and make sure to drink plenty of water. Don’t drink too hot or too cold as it will cause pain and sensitivity.
- Cover chipped tooth with sugarless chewing gum – If the damage has caused a sharp or jagged edge on the tooth then you need to protect your mouth and tongue from getting cut. You can do this by using a chewing gum and covering over the sharp edge or you can use a wax paraffin.
- Pain killers – If you have a toothache as a result of the broken tooth then taking Acetaminophen will help. It is quite popular and is used to treat mild to moderate pain. Always follow the instructions on the packaging in regard to the optimum dosage levels.
- Salt Water Rinse – The mouth is full of bacteria and any injuries can get infected pretty quick. To help with this you should make up a salt water rinse and gargle it around your mouth for 2 minutes to keep any possible infection at bay. 1tsp of salt to a warm glass of water and you should be good to go. The Orawellness Healthy mouth blend is another good alternative rinse to use.
- Save the Piece of tooth – Sometimes the dentist is able to reattach the portion of the tooth that broke off so try to save it if you can, but place it in a container covered by your saliva so that it doesn’t rot.
Follow these simple steps and book an appointment with the dentist and you should be fine. Don’t worry too much!
Most Common Way People Chip Their Teeth
Here are the 5 most common ways people break their enamel:
Biting down on hard objects
This can be caused by eating hard candy or biting into ice cubes. I would just let the sweets or ice sit in the mouth and dissolve by itself, you reduce the risk of breakage significantly consuming them this way.
A blow to the mouth or face
You might be walking down the road and accidentally bump into someone or you might walk into a door.
It might sound far-fetched but trust me, i have hit my head really hard on my own bedroom door quite a few times but thankfully it was the back of my head.
Falling
This one is more frequent with little kids who love to run around places, but when they fall it more often than not ends up in tears and a visit to the dentist.
Cavities that weaken teeth
If you have a tooth that is already severely weakened by a cavity, it is more likely to break off even at the slightest touch.
This is why it is important to keep teeth healthy by maintaining proper oral care.
Check out this article on how to stop teeth from rotting away.
Sport related injuries
The most common sports that leads to broken teeth is rugby and American football just because how hard the impact from being hit by another person can be.
Here Are Some More Uncommon Ways To Chip Teeth
College Parties
It happens more often then you think, You raise your beer bottle to your mouth, someone bumps your elbow in the crowded bar, and your tooth chips on the glass, Classic!
Shivering
You can chip a tooth just by shivering but i think you also need to have some pretty weak cavity infested teeth for this to happen.
Pets
Your loyal dog who comes to greet you when you come home can easily chip a front tooth jumping up while you stoop to say hello.
Weight lifting
You can chip your teeth by clenching quite hard at the moment of the lift.
This is why it is in your best interest to wear a mouth guard for these sorts of activities.
Different Types Of Teeth Breakage
1. Minor cracks – These are the least dangerous breaks and just doing a minor procedure to smooth out the teeth will be enough
2. Cracked tooth – this is a fracture that goes down the middle of the tooth or across it and will require a crown to fix it.
3. Small chips – Like cracks they won’t need much attention, just a little aesthetic fix up should do.
4. Broken cusp – this type of break only affects the top of the tooth (cusp), it won’t damage the pulp or the root of the teeth. It can usually be fixed by an onlay or a crown.
5. Serious breaks – This is the more painful ones that a few unlucky individuals will have to go through. This type will almost definitely expose the nerve giving you some intense pain. A root canal and crown will be required to fix this.
6. Split tooth – If you have a tooth which has split in half, it is possible to keep it rather than extracting it because teeth have multiple roots. A crown will usually be applied for this as well.
7. Split root – This can cause a lot of pain and irritation because the area surrounding the root may have become infected after the tooth enamel was broken. The tooth is generally removed.
8. Decay induced breakage – If a cavity has severely weakened the enamel of the tooth, it will more than likely crumble and need removing completely.
What Are The Main Treatment Options Available
When it comes to getting your teeth fixed, there are many avenues you can take depending on the severity of the case:
Dental filling/bonding
If a small chip has taken place then the dentist will simply use a filling to harden the tooth up but if it’s happened on one of your front teeth then a bonding procedure will be carried out.
Bonding is a relatively simple procedure that can be done without numbing the area. The dentist will etch the surface on the teeth with a gel to make it rough so the bonding agent will stick to it properly.
Next the dentist will place an adhesive to the teeth and place a tooth-colored resin. After shaping it to look like a full tooth, an ultraviolet light is used to harden the material.
Dental cap or crown
If a part of the tooth breaks off then generally the dentist will grind away the rest of the tooth and then cover it with a crown to make it look normal and give it protection.
Permanent crowns can be made from many kinds of material: metal, porcelain or ceramic. Some will cost more than others but make sure you ask for the one that resembles your other teeth.
Dental Veneers
If one of the front tooth is damaged then a veneer is the best option as it will make it look whole and healthy again.
It’s basically a thin shell of tooth colored porcelain that covers the whole of the front tooth.
The dentist will make an impression of the tooth to be sent to a dental laboratory, which will make the veneer.
When the veneer is ready, usually a week or two later you will need to go back and get it fitted which is a pretty straightforward procedure.
To place the veneer, the dentist will etch the surface of the tooth with a liquid and then apply a special cement to the veneer and then place it onto the tooth.
Once it’s in place, the dentist will use a special light to activate the chemicals in the cement to make it harden.
Root canal therapy
If a tooth has been broken quite severely it will most likely reveal the pulp which is the center of the tooth containing nerves and blood vessels.
This gives bacteria an opportunity to infect the pulp.
If your tooth hurts, changes color, or is sensitive to heat, the pulp is damaged and will need removing otherwise the tooth will become infected and will need extracting.
Root canal therapy involves removing the dead pulp, cleaning the root canal, and then sealing it. It’s usually performed by an endodontist.
This procedure sounds really painful but it is actually no more painful than getting a cavity filled.
The remaining tooth must be covered with a crown to protect the weakened tooth.
Conclusion
So can chipped tooth be fixed?
Hopefully, you have learned that it is NOT possible to fix a chipped tooth at home.
The best you can do is keep it from getting any worse while you wait for an appointment with the dentist.
And depending on how severe the chip is you are looking at a wide variety of treatment options.
Just be extra careful and conscious when you are consuming hard food, especially candy because it is the most common way teeth are chipped.
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