Teeth are designed to handle the basic, yet essential function of biting and chewing food into small enough pieces that it can be safely swallowed. As hard as your tooth enamel is, there are still things that can exceed its structural integrity causing a chip or minor dental fracture.
This might come from a bad habit like chewing on pens and pencils or biting your nails. At the same time people who use their teeth as improvised tools, or who fail to use a protective mouth guard during rigorous athletics are also at increased risk of fracturing a tooth.
Even if the damaged tooth enamel doesn’t cause initial pain, sensitivity, or discomfort you should still have it examined and treated by a dentist like Dr. Nadia Hamouda. Without professional attention the compromised structural integrity of the chipped tooth could lead to a more significant dental fracture.
The treatment plan she present to you will be based on the chip’s location on the tooth and the location of the tooth in your mouth.
Sometimes a simple dental filling made from composite resin or metallic amalgam. If the biting surface was damaged she might recommend using an inlay or onlay dental filling. If a large area of healthy tooth enamel was lost she might recommend replacing the entire tooth enamel layer with a dental crown.
If you are in the Ann Arbor, Michigan, area and you have a chipped or fractured tooth, you should call 734-222-0055 to have it examined and treated by the dental care specialists at White Pearl Dentistry’s dental offices.