How To Handle a Chipped Tooth and When It’s an Emergency

How To Handle a Chipped Tooth and When It’s an Emergency

Oct 01, 2021

The hard outer layer of your teeth, the enamel is incredibly strong and durable. However, it has some limitations. Some common causes of chipped teeth like falling down and impacting the mouth, chewing on ice, popcorn kernels on non-food items can chip your teeth. In addition, teeth weakened from decay are also susceptible to chipping. If you have a chipped tooth, you can visit a dental clinic offering emergency dental services to receive prompt treatment.

Chipped teeth are painful and need attention from a dental professional. Your teeth can sustain damages in several ways, and the damage can be minor or significant depending on the condition of your teeth and the type of injury. Unless you have a minor chip, do not think you can fix it without help from a dentist. However, you can address the pain you experience and protect your tooth beside the inside of your mouth to prevent further injuries.

How to React If You Have a Chipped Tooth?

It’s an excellent idea to call emergency dentistry soon after realizing you have chipped a tooth in your mouth. Meanwhile, there are some self-care measures you can take. Rinse your mouth with warm water right away to clean it is recommended by the American Dental Association. If the chipped tooth is bleeding, use a piece of sterile gauze over the bleeding area. Apply some pressure to stop the bleeding and use ice packs over your cheeks to control swelling.

Relief from Chipped Tooth Pain

You can flush the inside of your mouth with warm water and apply a cold compress to your cheeks every few minutes to keep the swelling down. In addition, over-the-counter pain relievers and anti-inflammatories can help you manage the discomfort from the chipped tooth. However, please do not exceed the recommended dosage and stay away from any painkillers that also act as blood thinners that might increase bleeding instead of preventing it.

When Is a Chipped Tooth an Emergency?

Chipped teeth are not all similar, and you might have different types of chips. When you get to the emergency dental clinic near you, the dental professional will examine your teeth thoroughly. The dentist keeps you informed which type of chips affects you and the treatment best suited for your condition.

If you have chipped your molar of the lower jaw because of their pointy cusps grinding powerfully against the grooves of the upper molars, these injuries are the most common and may leave you with a broken cusp requiring extensive treatments. You must fix chipped tooth if you have a fractured cusp in the molars because the area becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and food particles to remain trapped and create additional damage to your tooth. In such cases, the dentist recommends treating the broken cusp with a tooth restoration like a dental crown.

However, if you have very fine lines or craze lines as they are also known, you might not require treatment. Instead, the dentist may polish the tooth to eliminate any rough spots to ensure the chip doesn’t cause any discomfort in your mouth.

A minor chipped front tooth is restored by dentists using tooth-colored filling material to replace lost enamel. You can also inquire with the dentist about getting dental bonding to fix the chipped tooth and restore it to appear like your natural teeth. However, do not try to fix the tooth yourself because you might create additional damage in your mouth.

Many people assume a chipped tooth is a minor problem that does not cause any significant issues. However, every chip or crack other than craze lines occurring on the enamel needs an evaluation from your dentist because trying to determine the intensity of the damage is pretty challenging for yourself. There are no effective home therapies to prevent additional injuries to your teeth, and the sharp edges of the chipped tooth can cut through your soft tissues to cause more pain and infection, needing expensive treatment. In some cases, an untreated chip can require a root canal, tooth loss, or other complications because of an infection.

You can use home repair kits available with drugstore and online retailers to cover the chipped tooth while you wait for an appointment to see your dentist. However, do not delay the treatment for too long because the bacteria in your mouth will undoubtedly get to the chip and, through it to create more infections in your mouth.

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