Accidents happen. Injuries can occur as a result of contact sports, falling down the stairs, or tripping over a rock. Sometimes, teeth can be damaged as a result of these injuries. You’ll be left asking how to fix a chipped tooth. But you’ll have the answer. If you or your loved one has chipped a tooth after an accident, it is crucial to seek professional dental services immediately. While a little chip or crack may not seem like a huge deal, it can cause irreversible damage to the nerves and the rest of the mouth over time. At My Dentist Anaheim, we provide dental bonding services to help repair a chipped tooth. This procedure is quick, easy, and painless, and can help restore your tooth to its proper function. But there is more than one way to fix a chipped tooth, and several other factors to consider before a treatment decision can be made. Below, you’ll find some information about the associated risks of chipping a tooth, as well as the costs of repair and types of repair available.

What Causes a Tooth to Chip?

Despite the fact that we use our teeth for eating, they are still sensitive and fragile parts of our bodies. Tooth enamel is a hard mineral casing that protects our teeth from damage, but it can wear down over time. This leads to an increased risk of chipping your tooth. You can chip your tooth by simply eating hard candy, biting on a hard piece of plastic, or falling and suffering from an injury to the mouth. According to research performed by Crest, tooth grinding also contributes to the possibility of a broken or chipped tooth. When you notice that you have chipped a tooth, the first thing you should do is get in touch with your trusted dentist in Anaheim for an appointment.

What to Do When You Chip a Tooth

If you notice a break or crack in your teeth, you need to schedule an appointment right away. In the meantime, if you are experiencing pain, it is okay to take some over-the-counter painkillers while you wait for your emergency repair services. It is also helpful to know the type of chipped tooth. The different types of chips and breaks you can experience include:

• Vertical Break: The most common type of crack, starting at the root and moving up your tooth. You may be in pain if you are suffering from a vertical break.
• Split Tooth: Some teeth have more than one set of roots, so a break can cause the tooth to split into two.
• Decay Break: If you are dealing with damage or decay in the teeth, there can be so much buildup of decay that it causes the teeth to crack.
• Front Tooth Chip: Your front teeth are prone to chipping and cracking more than others due to their location.

Depending on the severity and placement of the chip in your tooth, there are several different treatment options available.

Treating a Chipped Tooth

We find that most of our patients benefit from our dental bonding procedure. During this procedure, a dental bonding resin is applied to the affected area and dried with a heating tool. It is completely painless and non-invasive; it and adds composite material over the crack to repair the structure of your tooth. Think of it as fixing a crack in a wall or your kitchen sink. Just apply some dental plaster! In some cases, the break or chip is too severe to apply dental bonding. When this happens, tooth extraction is necessary. Your dentist will numb your mouth and then extract your tooth. Afterward, you may choose to have a dental implant, crown, or bridge to close the gap between your missing tooth.

Get the Best Dental Services ASAP

When you suffer from an injury, it’s important to seek medical help right away. Dealing with tooth injuries is no different. Especially when it comes to needing to fix a chipped tooth. Whether you have a small crack or a big chip in your tooth, you need to invest in a treatment that will stop the spread of pain and decay. At My Dentist Anaheim, we are available to help those in need of our urgent services. For more information about dental bonding, or if you are concerned about a dental injury, please contact us online. You can also give us a call at (714) 677-8575 to speak with a representative about scheduling your next appointment.