Having a chipped tooth can be a painful and unpleasant experience. It can be caused by trauma or injury, such as being hit in the mouth with a soccer ball or tripping and hitting your mouth against something. Poor dental hygiene can also cause cavities that, if left untreated, can slowly destroy the tooth. It's important to remember that it can take months or years for a tooth to die, and once it is not vital, it will eventually fall out.
However, this process cannot be predicted beforehand. It's much better to see your dentist and get treatment for a dead tooth as soon as possible. Without professional treatment, a broken tooth is susceptible to infection that will only worsen over time. This infection can spread to the neck and head, causing all kinds of health problems.
Although rare, a chipped tooth may be life-threatening. A chipped tooth can easily turn into a broken tooth, as the fracture weakens it. Therefore, if you chew something hard, the chipped tooth will be at greater risk of breaking. And if it breaks, it will require more extensive treatments to restore the tooth than simply fixing a chipped tooth. If no further problems are detected, the dentist will numb the tooth and surrounding gum and then remove enough of the remaining tooth to make room for a crown.
In addition, a piece of protective enamel will be missing, exposing the internal nerves of the tooth and making the tooth sensitive to pressure and to hot, cold, sweet, and acidic foods and drinks. Once the tooth has been removed, the patient may consider installing an artificial replacement tooth. Falling, getting hit in the face, or biting something hard, especially if a tooth already has a tooth decay, can cause a tooth to chip or break. If the repair is on a front tooth or can be seen when smiling, the dentist will likely use a procedure called bonding, which uses a composite resin the color of the tooth. If a large part of the tooth enamel breaks, the dentin is likely to be exposed and the tooth will feel tender. A dental veneer is a thin layer of tooth-colored porcelain or resin composite material that covers the entire front of the tooth (like a false nail covers a nail) with a thicker section to replace the broken part of the tooth. This doesn't mean you should wait for it to happen, and it's strongly recommended that you go to your dentist to have your tooth treated as soon as possible after you notice any signs of death in your tooth.
When a tooth is dead, it's usually very visible, and if it's one of the teeth that are in front of your smile, it can be very annoying and unpleasant to see. Although a chipped tooth may not cause immediate pain, an infection can develop and compromise your oral health and overall health. You should always see your dentist after any dental injury or if you have any signs of tooth death. Having a dental restoration is one way to repair teeth that are damaged, including chipped or cracked teeth, cavities, and worn enamel. If the tooth is severely damaged and cannot be restored, the dentist may recommend complete removal of the dead tooth. Here's how not seeking the right treatment for a chipped tooth will hinder your oral health: Your dentist will file part of your existing tooth and then permanently place the crown over the tooth.
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