While crunching down ice you suddenly realise something is wrong. There is something hard that neither dissolves nor melts. Then you discover to your horror a piece of your broken tooth. This may also happen while biting down a hard candy. The enamel or the outermost covering of the tooth is the hardest mineralised tissue in the human body. But Composite Bonding too has its limits as far as the strength is concerned. Biting down on a hard substance or receiving a blow to the face may turn disastrous enough to rush to a dentist with a broken tooth. The chances are even greater if there is a decayed and diseased tooth.
A decayed and diseased tooth is more prone to get chipped or fractured. It is also likely to break at the any instant while biting down on something hard. However, if you ever come across a partially broken or chipped tooth, please do not panic. Rather try maintaining your cool. Modern dentistry offers a lot of ways to fix Composite Bonding.
Care for chipped or broken tooth
If you suffer from a chipped, fractured or partially broken tooth, you must see a dentist at the earliest possible moment. Else the problem may turn increasingly complex with time and finally it could lead to an infection. In worst case scenario you may even end up losing the tooth.
Meanwhile going to a dentist try out these simple techniques on your own as a part of self-care measures –
- If the damaged tooth proves painful rinse the mouth with lukewarm salt water.
- If that does not alleviate the pain, then go for analgesic or painkiller medicines that are available over the counter (OTC).
- If the partially broken tooth has developed a sharp edge, then cover the place with sugarless chewing gum or a piece of wax paraffin. This helps preventing the tongue from getting cut which will further deepen the overall problem.
- Follow a diet of soft foods that hardly require any chewing. Eat with one side of the mouth that is not damaged.
- In any case, avoid biting down on the broken tooth.
Modern dentistry offers a number of options to fix a partially broken or chipped tooth. However, a dentist chooses the exact treatment depending on the level of the damage. If just a tiny piece of enamel comes loose the repair is simple. It requires just a single visit to the dentist’s office. On the other hand, a more complex, lengthy and costly treatment is needed if the tooth is damaged badly or badly broken.
Different procedures to fix a broken or chipped tooth
Dental bonding or filling – If the damage is on one of the front teeth that is exposed when you smile, then teeth bonding is a better option. This procedure relies on a composite resin material that comes in the colour of the teeth. On the other hand, if only a tiny piece of the tooth enamel gets chipped off, a dentist can fix the problem using dental filling.
Tooth bonding or dental bonding is a simple procedure. Also known as composite bonding because of the composite material that is bonded to the tooth surface, the procedure does not require numbing your senses by administering anaesthesia. As the preparatory stage, the dentist etches the surface of the damaged tooth with a specially formulated gel or liquid. This roughens the surface facilitating better adhesion of the composite resin. Then an adhesive substance is applied to the tooth which is followed by the tooth-coloured resin. Then the resin is given desired shape to make it appear like your natural tooth. Care and effort are made to ensure your bonded tooth does not stand out from the rest of your natural teeth so that it is easily distinguishable. As such bonding treatment requires artistic taste and skills of a dentist in making a bonded tooth identical with your natural ones. As the final step to the treatment, the dentist uses an ultraviolet light to harden the composite resin faster.
Dental crown or cap – when a significant portion of a tooth comes loose or a tooth gets badly decayed a dentist may file away the part of the tooth that remains before covering it with a crown. A dental crown is a cap that comes in the shape of a tooth. it covers the tooth not only to make it appear aesthetically better but also protect it from further damage. Permanent crowns are made from various substances like ceramic, resin, metal and porcelain in fusion with metal. Each of these types offers different advantages. The ones made entirely of metal are obviously the most durable. On the other hand, those made from porcelain and resin, resemble your natural teeth. When the entire top of a tooth breaks away but the root remains intact, a dentist performs root canal on the tooth. Then a post or a pin is placed in the canal to build up sufficient structure on which a crown can be erected. In course of time, either the crown can be cemented over the pin or the restoration can be supported by a post.
To get a crown placed on the tooth usually two visits to a dentist is required. During the first visit the dentist checks the root of the affected tooth as well as the surrounding bone structures. If there is no more complication, then the dentist will put you on local anaesthesia to numb the tooth as well as the surrounding tissues and the bones. Then the remaining part of the tooth is proportionally extracted so that there is enough space to place a crown.
The Chatfield Dental Braces is a reliable place in London for this treatment. As such we offer one of the most reasonable composite bonding costs in London. If a large portion of the tooth goes missing as a result of the break or chip, our dentist is likely to make use of a filling material to build up the tooth to support the crown. Then the dentist will rely on a putty-like substance to create an impression of both the affected tooth and its opposite one. It is basically the tooth that touches the affected one when you bite down. The impression is sent to a dental lab and there your crown is made.
