What to Do When You Have Chipped Teeth?

What's more sickening than munching your favorite food and suddenly feeling something hard, only to realize it's a piece of your broken tooth? You'll need to visit an emergency dentist in Atlanta, IL, to fix that problem.

Though this scenario may look alarming, it's not something worth panicking at all. There is no better "next step" for chipped teeth than setting up an appointment with your dentist.

I Chipped My Tooth! What Do I Do?

Chipped or broken teeth shouldn't be ignored, regardless of their size. Seeing your dentist is the best option to avoid further damage and possibilities of infection. But what do you do right after you break your tooth? Here are some essential tips:

• Rinse your mouth with saltwater because a chipped or broken tooth is usually sensitive to food or beverages.
• Take an over-the-counter pain reliever, or apply clove oil to reduce pain or sensitivity.
• Chewing gum or wax paraffin can used to cover sharp edges of broken teeth to avoid cutting or irritating your tongue, lip, or the inner sides of your cheek.

• Avoid solid food and stick with soft food until the chipped or broken tooth is treated.

Whether the damage of the chipped tooth is big or small, it is impossible to tell unless you see a dentist. The dentist will perform some procedures to give the proper treatment and patch the crack or damage of the tooth.  

If the damage is minor, it is often possible to perform these procedures in one visit.

Other Professional Dental Treatments

There are times when dentists can reattach a broken tooth, though some of the other common include polishing, dental fillings, dental bonding, dental caps or crowns, or in worst cases, tooth extraction and replacement.

Polishing  

This can be combined with dental bonding. It works by smoothing the cracked or jagged edge to repair sharp tooth cuts. It is also called cosmetic contouring.

Dental Filling  

Small pieces of tooth enamel damage can be treated by simply filling the space where the tooth fell off.

Dental Bonding  

The procedure includes the following steps:

• Roughening the surface of the tooth so that the bonding material will adhere.
• Applying an acidic solution to it to make it stick.
• Applying an adhesive material to place a tooth-colored resin.
• Using ultraviolet light to harden the bonding material after shaping it to look like a natural tooth.

Dental Cap or Crown  

This procedure needs to grind away part of the remaining tooth if broken off or decayed significantly. The remaining parts of the tooth are then covered with a dental crown to protect it and improve its appearance.  

Tooth Extraction and Replacement  

When a tooth has significant damage, the dentist might need to extract the tooth entirely and implant a tooth that looks the same as the one removed.

Looking for an Emergency Dentist in Atlanta, IL?

At some point, our teeth will weaken and break. And though worrying is a natural reaction, there is no need to stress yourself when it comes to having chipped or broken teeth, since it is 'fixable' in many ways.

It's best to have a go-to dentist, so you can easily set an appointment to have your dental problems fixed immediately. Head over to Smalltown Dental. We have specialists who can give you advice on what to do next. Call us today!