Chipped teeth are unattractive and can increase your risk of infection. If you would like to know how you can avoid infection and a root canal, please keep reading to learn more about the treatment options our Calgary family dentist can provide. Give our office a call to schedule a visit with Dr. Arash Ravanbakhsh.
Risk Factors and Causes of Chipped Teeth
The drinks and foods you drink can play a role in your risk factors of chipping your teeth. Acidic foods such as hot sauce, coffee, or citrus can wear down your enamel. Frequent vomiting from excessive alcohol consumption, pregnancy, or bulimia can also weaken your enamel.
Bad habits such as grinding your teeth and poor oral hygiene can weaken your teeth. If your dental care routine is not up to snuff, you can suffer decay which can cause your teeth to chip easily.
Being over the age of 50 is a risk factor for chipped teeth; according to a study published in the Journal of Endodontics that showed roughly two-thirds of adults over the age of 50 have cracks in their teeth.
If you have healthy teeth and do not have any of these risk factors, you may be able to avoid chipping your teeth. However, sometimes even the strongest teeth can chip.
Common causes of chipped teeth include biting into something hard such as ice, being involved in a car accident, falling, getting hit in the mouth, and not wearing a sports mouth guard while playing a contact sport.
Treatment Options if You Have Chipped Teeth
Do you want to fix your smile after chipping your tooth? Whether you have one chip or many chips in your teeth, we can help you determine which treatment would best suit your needs.
Some patients want a conservative treatment that addresses the problem, while others take this opportunity to enhance their smile with a full smile makeover. Please keep reading to learn about your treatment options if you have chipped teeth.
Reattaching the Fragment
Suppose you can find the piece of your tooth that chipped off. Getting it reattached can be possible if you keep it alive. Teeth can die without access to calcium. Put it in a glass of milk or carefully hold it in your gum without swallowing it. If you make it to the dentist quickly enough, they may be able to reattach the fragment with dental cement.
Dental Bonding
Many people swallow or lose the chipped-off bit of their tooth. Dental bonding can be used as a treatment option to restore your teeth. Dental bonding is either made of composite resin or porcelain, cemented to the tooth to recreate its shape. Your dentist will custom shape the dental bonding to match your neighboring teeth. This treatment can last up to a decade.
Porcelain Veneers
You can choose to get porcelain veneers on the affected tooth/teeth, or you can opt to get a full set of them. Porcelain veneers are thin strips of tooth-shaped porcelain. Your dentist will prepare your tooth by shaving down about a millimeter of your natural tooth structure. A lab will create your veneers after your dentist provides them with impressions of your prepared teeth. You will be given temporary veneers to wear until your custom veneers are ready to be bonded to your teeth with dental cement. Porcelain veneers provide stunning results and can last decades.
Schedule a Visit with Our Calgary Dentist
If you have chipped teeth and want to meet with our Calgary dentist to discuss treatment options, please reach our office immediately. We would be glad to get you on our appointment book. Dr. Arash Ravanbakhsh loves being able to restore his patients’ smiles.