Dental Health and Food: Learning to Eat Better

3 Steps You Should Take If You Chip A Tooth

6 April 2015 by Eric Bailey

While teeth are strong enough to withstand a lot of force, there are times when they fail and end up chipping. This normally happens from trauma that strikes the tooth. The trauma could as severe as the force from a major car crash, or it could be as simple as biting on a hard piece of food. When this happens, you will need to take the right steps to protect the tooth and get it repaired.

Look at the Severity of the Damage

When part of a tooth chips off, you will instantly feel the pain. The pain might go away shortly or last long, and this normally depends on the location of the damage. If the chip is just at the tip of your tooth, it may not hurt horribly bad, but you could experience a great deal of pain if the chip happens near your gum line.

The severity of the damage can help you determine what you should do next, but no matter what, you should consider going to a dentist quickly. Getting the tooth examined and repaired quickly will help you:

• Eliminate the pain faster
• Prevent the risk of losing the tooth
• Feel less embarrassed from the way the tooth looks

Treat the Injury

After chipping a tooth, you will not only need to examine it to find out how severe the problem is, but you will also need to treat it. Here are some of the things you can do to help relieve the pain and discomfort you are experiencing after this happens:

• Rinse with salt water – Mix a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water and rinse your mouth with this. The salt will help clean the tooth, and this is especially important if the tooth pulp or dentin is exposed.
• Use paraffin wax – Paraffin wax is something that you can purchase at most grocery stores, and it is often used for cooking. You can place a small piece of paraffin wax over the tooth. This will protect the tooth, and it will also help you avoid cutting your gums if the tooth has a sharp edge.
• Place a teabag on it – If there is bleeding around the tooth, place a wet teabag on the tooth, and bite down to apply pressure to it. This will help stop the bleeding.

If you are experiencing a lot of pain, you may want to take over-the-counter pain pills to relieve it. At this point, you should also consider calling a dentist at a place like Maplewood Dental Associates, PA.

Get It Fixed

While there are times when chipped teeth do not need emergency dental services, you should always try to see a dentist within a couple days after the injury. If you wait too long, the tooth could end up becoming infected, and this could lead to needing a root canal. Waiting too long could also cause you to lose this tooth.

When you go to a dentist, there are several methods he or she might discuss with you for repairing the tooth, and these include:

• Bonding – Bonding is ideal if the chipped part is small and if the chip is not located near the gums. When bonding is used, a cement-like material is placed on the tooth and is molded to fill in the missing part of the tooth. When it dries, it will be strongly attached to your tooth, and you will not be able to see that your tooth was filled in.
• Crowns – A crown is normally used to fix a chipped tooth when the tooth is a molar. Crowns can be tooth-colored or metal, and they are custom-made to fit over an entire tooth.
• Veneers – Veneers are similar to crowns, but they are usually used for the front teeth and not for molars. A veneer is a small mold of your tooth that is custom-made to fit over an existing tooth.

Chipping a tooth can be painful and inconvenient, but it happens. If you would like to learn more about the options available for fixing chipped teeth, contact a dentist today.

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