A chip can occur on one of your teeth for any number of reasons. This is even more likely to happen if you have a bad habit of using your teeth as tools or nibbling on foreign objects. Bruxism, or grinding your teeth at night, can also cause significant chips on the biting surfaces of teeth.
Once the tooth enamel is chipped, it can easily trap plaque and food particles, fostering new tooth decay.
To prevent this, your dentist, Dr. Derek Lichter, encourages all of our patients to have a chipped tooth repaired as soon as possible. The severity of the damage to the tooth enamel will determine the method he recommends for repairing the tooth.
A large chip that compromises a significant amount of tooth enamel might need to be restored with a dental crown. If one or more teeth are deeply chipped and cause pain or hypersensitivity, your dentist might need to perform a root canal to remove the damaged internal structures of the tooth before fitting it with a dental crown.
If you have small chips on multiple teeth in your smile, your dentist might be able to fit you for a set of porcelain dental veneers. These are porcelain shells that cover the faces of the teeth. They will effectively address the chips and give you a white and winning smile.
If you have chips on one or more teeth, you should call 619-591-8945 to schedule an appointment at Derek M. Lichter, DDS, Inc..
