Having a chipped tooth has the potential to make things much more difficult and uncomfortable. This all depends on the severity of the damage and which tooth it happens to be. If the chipped tooth is one of your front teeth, it can make you self-conscious about your smile, causing you to avoid laughing or smiling in public.
It can also affect the type of foods you eat. For some people, having a chipped tooth can severely impact their everyday life. It may be tempting to want to ignore the problem, not have it taking care of, or simply have it pulled and have an implant put in instead, but in truth keeping your original teeth, no matter what kind of damage has occurred to them, is always the best option.
Implants, dentures, bridges, and other replacement teeth all pose certain challenges over time. Dentures and bridges will mean you have to watch what you eat, avoid hard foods, and pay attention to those details much more than if you had your original teeth in place. Implants may not last as long as you’d expect. It all depends on the condition of your gums, bone, and the surrounding teeth as well.
There are many things dentists can do today to help protect chipped teeth. Some people rely on crowns, which are basically caps that go around the teeth to keep them from decaying. Dentists can also use the same filling that are used in cavities to help fill in the chips. You still need to pay attention to what you eat, avoid biting down hard foods with those teeth, but they can look almost completely natural, especially when they are designed to match the color of your surrounding teeth.
If you’ve chipped a tooth, make an appointment with your dentist or contact The Dental Centre today and see what all of your options are to help keep that tooth and protect it well into the future.