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Emergency Fix: Fillings & Bondings for Chipped Tooth

Friday - November 17th, 2017
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Have you found yourself with a chipped tooth? For many patients, it can happen without warning. Suddenly, you’ll be feeling around and notice a piece of your tooth is missing. Not to panic, an emergency dentist is near you and just a visit away to repair your tooth with a filling or bonding. Just use a dentist near me search to pull up several Monarch Dental locations in your area. With plenty of emergency dentists available, they’ll have late night and weekend hours to fix your tooth in no time. You won’t want to leave a piece of your tooth missing for long as you run the risk of damaging it further or getting an infection. Either way, you’ll need to get an emergency fix with a filling or bonding to bring your tooth back to life.

What to Do with a Chipped Tooth

Chipping a tooth happens! Although your teeth might be strong and sturdy, our teeth enamel can’t always withstand everything that comes its way. Chewing on ice or hard candy can sometimes damage our tooth enamel, breaking the tooth. Other times, accidents happen like a sports injury or a car accident, leaving your smile with a chipped tooth. Dental care is also an important factor when it comes to the risk you face in potentially chipping a tooth. Things like cavities, or gum disease and an abscessed tooth can all increase your risk for chipping a tooth, as the enamel has weakened. Whatever the reason, you’ll need to see an emergency dentist to fix your tooth as soon as possible.

While you wait for your emergency dentist you can take a mild painkiller to ease any discomfort associated with your chipped tooth. Rinse your mouth with saltwater to rid of any debris and clean the area. If you have a piece of the tooth that is poking into your tongue or cheek, you can place dental wax on the edges while you wait. If the accident was caused by a traumatic blow to the face, you may want to seek medical attention to make sure there isn’t any other damage, such as a concussion.

Treatment for your chipped tooth will widely depend on the way it broke. A very small chip may need something as simple as recontouring to reshape the appearance of the tooth. Other small chips can use fillings or bondings to restructure the tooth as it once was. If the tooth has a fairly simple fix you can usually have the procedure done with just one visit to your dentist. More intense chips or fractures to a tooth can require more complex treatment options like a dental crown or veneer. This is especially true for an infected tooth, as the fracture is caused by a greater underlying issue. In these cases, the tooth may need to be extracted, and patients can look to dental implants to restore their smile’s appearance.

You should be able to tell quite quickly if the chipped tooth will need a more extensive reparation process, as larger fractures may leave the nerve ending of your tooth exposed. This can be quite painful and sensitive, and you’ll want an emergency dentist to assess the situation to provide you with temporary relief while they work on a more permanent solution such as a dental crown.

Filling or Bonding for a Chipped Tooth

Your dentist might recommend a dental filling or bonding to fix your chipped tooth, especially if it’s a small piece that’s missing. Dental fillings are a relatively quick and easy process, but are typically used when the chip in your tooth is caused by tooth decay. When you have plaque and tartar that have built up on your tooth, the bacteria will produce acid that wears away at your tooth enamel. This produces a hole also known as a cavity. If you’re not keeping up with regular brushing and flossing, as well as routine professional teeth cleanings, you can develop a cavity quite easily. Cavities, otherwise known as dental caries, can leave your tooth enamel weak and prone to chipping easily. If your tooth happens to chip because of tooth decay, your dentist might be able to fix the tooth with a filling. During the process of a dental filling, your dentist will numb the area with a local anesthetic so they can remove any bacteria or decay painlessly. From there they will use a composite filling to fill in the hole and repair the structure of the tooth.

A composite bonding is a process that uses a special resin the color of your tooth. This resin is placed and molded where the chip or missing part of your tooth is. It is then hardened with a special light and contoured to look like your natural tooth. This is a quick emergency fix for chipped teeth, as the process is quick and won’t require any preparation on your end. If the chipped tooth was caused by an accident or something unrelated to tooth decay or infection, you most likely won’t need an anesthetic to repair the tooth. Bonding allows your tooth to look and feel natural, just as it once was. They can last up to 10 years if properly taken care of.

Other chipped tooth remedies

There are other treatment options for a chipped tooth that go beyond a quick fix. These types of treatment options are used when the tooth has been broken or fractured, or if a large piece has broken off. In these situations, the missing piece is too large for a composite filling or bonding to fix and might require a dental crown or dental veneer to fix the tooth. Either of these treatments may take more than one visit to the dentist.

Dental crowns are a tooth-shaped cap that’s placed over a tooth that has been fractured or broken, with the root remaining underneath. Your dentist may remove other parts of the tooth to make space for the new dental crown, or use a composite filling to give the crown something to hold on to. Your dentist will need to take an impression or mold of your tooth to make a model which will be used to cover the affected tooth. This will require another visit to the dentist, as the molds are sent to a lab where they are processed. Some dental offices offer same day dental crowns.

Dental veneers are used to cosmetically restore a severely chipped tooth. In these instances, your tooth enamel is smoothed down, allowing room for a porcelain veneer. The veneer is placed over your tooth and then reshaped to match your existing teeth. They can be colored to match your other teeth as well, and last anywhere from 10 to 20 years.

Affordable Treatment for a Chipped Tooth

Just because you’ve chipped a tooth doesn’t mean you can’t fix it due to financial concerns. Chipping a tooth can leave your teeth vulnerable to infection and should be treated the moment you notice something is awry. At Monarch Dental, we accept most dental insurance plans to cover the cost of your filling or bonding. If you’re not sure whether or not your care is covered, just use a dentist near me search to find a location near you. Our staff will be able to help you determine if your dental insurance already covers your emergency dental visit and treatment.

Even if you don’t have dental insurance, Monarch Dental has flexible payment plans to choose from, making your emergency care affordable. When you’ve chipped a tooth, the last thing you’ll want to worry about is how much it will cost you. We make sure our care is affordable, allowing everyone access to the treatment option that best suits them.

Chipped tooth, big or small, should always be looked at by a professional. Even if your chipped tooth isn’t particularly painful, you’ll want to seek treatment before it causes any issues later on. Addressing it can be a quick fix, leaving you in and out of the dentist office in no time. Whether it’s a filling or bonding, or something more complex like a dental crown or veneer, Monarch Dental has the professionals to help you along the way. If you feel that you need an emergency dentist, you can visit us online or call us at 1-844-800-7645. We make sure your emergency and non-emergency dental needs are handled with care, comfort, and affordability.