When you have chipped a tooth, even if this injury seems minor, we still urge you to schedule a visit with our team. Even minor chips and cracks could leave a smile vulnerable to cavities and dental infections. In today’s blog, your Prairie Village, KS, emergency dentist talks about taking on your chipped tooth.
How to Respond to a Chipped Tooth
If you or a family member chips a tooth, don’t panic! See if you can recover any pieces and then place them in a sealed container. You can bring them to the office with you to aid in the repair process. If you can’t recover any pieces of a tooth, don’t worry, we can still repair it. You can use a bit of cloth or gauze to stem any bleeding, and a cold compress or ice pack to the side of the face to control swelling. We also recommend an over-the-counter pain reliever. Give our team a call, even if this occurs outside of normal business hours. We will reach out to you with a team for an appointment so we can repair the tooth. If you sustain an injury and no injury is visible, then consider a visit regardless as dental fractures could be practically invisible to the naked eye!
Repairing the Tooth
If you have a very minor chip, we could offer repair in one visit with dental bonding. The procedure involves our team applying a composite resin to the tooth, the same material we use in our dental filling procedures. This provides repair to the tooth and can be shaded to blend with it too, so you have a lifelike appearance. If you have more substantial damage to the tooth, then our team could place a custom-made dental crown, again designed to repair the tooth and offer a natural-looking appearance.
Protecting Your Smile with a Mouthguard
Moving forward, consider changes to your routine that could protect your tooth from injury. For example, we can offer a custom athletic mouthguard, one that is made for your smile specifically and designed to offer a greater level of protection when compared to standard boil-and-bite options. This helps lower the risk of a chipped or knocked-out tooth. Be sure you practice good oral hygiene too, as teeth free of tooth decay are stronger and more resistant to injury.
If you have any questions about our approach to emergency dentistry, then contact our team today to learn more.
Make Your Emergency Appointment Dr. Browne, D.D.S. In Prairie Village!
You should see us when you damage a tooth to avoid complications like tooth decay and infection. To find out more about how to handle common dental emergencies, call Dr. Browne’s office in Prairie Village, KS at 913-901-8585 today.