Your teeth are tough and covered in strong enamel that lets you chow down on your favourite foods. Yet your teeth can become weak and susceptible to damage. This could turn your next bite into one of painful surprise with a broken, chipped, or cracked tooth.
How to fix a broken tooth depends on the amount of damage your tooth has sustained. Your dentist is a skilled professional who can discuss all the options with you, including dental crowns.
Self-Care for a Broken Tooth
When you have a chipped, broken, or fractured tooth, you need to see your dentist as soon as possible. Speedy treatment can prevent complications from developing in the future. If you are unable to see your dentist right away, there are some steps you can take to ease your discomfort before your appointment.
Avoid eating until after a dentist has examined your teeth. If you must eat, consider consuming liquids or soft foods that reduce your need to chew. This minimises the chance of you biting down on your broken tooth and causing further damage.
If your broken tooth has a jagged or sharp edge, protect the inside of your mouth by covering the edge with a small amount of dental wax or sugar-free chewing gum. Be mindful not to place too much pressure on the broken tooth, or you could damage the tooth even more.
For a painful broken tooth, use over-the-counter pain medications as directed. You may also consider using a warm salt water rinse to ease mouth and gum discomfort and prevent bacterial infection.
Treatment Options for Small Chips and Cracks
The amount of damage is a key factor in determining how to fix a broken tooth. If the damage is minimal enough, you may not need a dental crown. Small chips and cracks can often be repaired using dental fillings, bonding, and veneers.
-
Filling
You are most likely familiar with dental fillings as a method to repair tooth cavities. The same technique can be used to repair small chips on damaged teeth. A dentist applies dental composite to the broken tooth to protect the delicate interior tissue and restore your chewing surface. Dental fillings were traditionally silver, but modern advances in dentistry give you the option of tooth-coloured dental fillings to mimic the look of your natural teeth.
-
Bonding
Another option for small chips and cracks on a tooth is bonding. This is a simple dental treatment that can restore the look of your teeth more quickly than using a dental crown.
To repair a tooth with bonding, your dentist chemically roughens your tooth’s surface to help the bonding material adhere. Your dentist attaches a tooth-coloured resin and shapes it to look like your natural tooth. The resin is then hardened with ultraviolet light.
-
Veneers
If the damage to your tooth is only surface deep, a dental veneer can be an option to restore your smile. Dental veneers differ from dental crowns. Veneers only cover the front surface of your tooth to restore your tooth’s appearance. They can be made from wafer-thin composite resin or porcelain.
Since dental veneers are customised to your existing teeth, it can take multiple visits to the dental practice before your repair is complete. At your first visit, the dentist can make an impression of your tooth to use as a model for the veneer. Once the veneer has been made, the dentist will prepare your tooth’s surface, attach the veneer, and harden the adhesive with ultraviolet light.
How to Fix a Broken Tooth?
Sometimes a large portion of your tooth breaks off. When this occurs, treatment needs to be done quickly to restore your mouth’s health. A broken tooth can expose your delicate dental pulp, increasing your risk of cavities, infection, and tooth decay. These are the most common treatment options that your dentist may recommend for how to fix a broken tooth.
-
Dental Crowns
Dental crowns offer protection for severely damaged and broken teeth. Dental crowns are placed over your original tooth to offer protection and improve the appearance. A permanent dental crown can be made from gold alloy, ceramic, resin, or porcelain-fused-to-metal. The type of material you choose for your dental crown affects its strength and longevity.
Before placing a crown on your broken tooth, your dentist may need to take X-rays to look for damage to your bone or roots of your teeth. If any damage is noted, you may need additional procedures, like root canal therapy, before you can have a dental crown placed.
Placement of dental crowns typically takes multiple appointments. At the first appointment, your dentist will prepare the tooth for the dental crown and make an impression. The impression is sent to the laboratory where your dental crown will be made. However, many modern dentists have invested in advanced technology to offer you same-day dental crowns.
At No Gaps Dental, we offer Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramic (CEREC) crowns which can be placed in a single session. Using advanced CAD/CAM technology, your dentist takes digital scans of your mouth, which is entered into a software program that tells the CEREC machine how to create your custom dental crowns. The crowns are milled from durable ceramic and cemented into place after minor adjustments.
-
Dental Implants
Some broken teeth are so severely damaged that they cannot be saved. When this is the case, your dentist can replace your broken tooth with a dental implant. A dental implant offers you a natural-looking permanent tooth replacement. The dentist performs a small procedure to insert a small metal rod into your jaw to act as your new tooth root, and an abutment is placed on top. A custom-fitted dental crown is then attached to the abutment.
You may have more than one tooth that sustained damage. Dental implants can be used to replace more than one tooth. In this case, multiple dental crowns would be replaced by a dental bridge as a permanent replacement for a missing section of teeth.
Restore Your Dental Health at No Gaps Dental
No matter how you damaged your tooth, there is a treatment option available to restore your smile. Many procedures, like dental crowns, offer natural-looking options while providing you with a durable and lasting restoration. Call No Gaps Dental on (02) 8806 0227 today to book your consultation.
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks.