There it is. Staring at you every time you smile in a photo or pull a face in the mirror: the chipped tooth. You know the one. You’ve been meaning to get it fixed for months (if not years). Perhaps the chip isn’t old news. Maybe you were taking a bite of a delicious snack that looked completely harmless…until it claimed a shard of your tooth.
Any damage dealt at the right angle with the right amount of force can chip a tooth. Despite any damage done, you’d be surprised to see how smoothly the skilled team at Switch Dental in Lower Hutt can save your smile, returning it to its former chipless glory. Here are a few FAQ’s to help ‘piece things together’ when talking chipped teeth:
Why do your teeth chip?
When teeth chip it is most often as a result of the impact from an accident (such as sport injuries). It happens because the force on the teeth is strong enough to snap the hard outer enamel that protects the tooth. The good news here is that, in the case of an accident, ACC can generally help to cover most of the cost of the tooth’s repair.
How bad is the chipped tooth?
“It hurts when I eat hot or cold food, sometimes even when it gets exposed to the air.” – this could be more than a simple chip and it is best to get this seen to by Switch Dental as soon as possible. This also applies to any noticeable discolouration in the tooth after it has been damaged.
What can my dentist do?
Anything that’s needed to get your chipped smile ship-shape once more! If the tooth has taken a hit, we would encourage you to pay us a visit for a little peace of mind. We’ll be able to assess the damage and, if need be, take an X-ray of the tooth to see if there are any sneaky cracks that might cause trouble in the future.
It is also a good idea to try to keep the part of the tooth that has broken off and bring it in with you. The team of dentists at Switch can sometimes reattach the broken piece and make it look like nothing happened in the first place.
If this isn’t possible and a tooth-coloured filling is needed, a dentist at Switch Dental can expertly match the natural colour of your tooth and seamlessly perform a repair. Often this looks just as good as reattaching the broken piece.