Chipped or Cracked Teeth Can Be Treated in a Variety of Ways

Cosmetic Dentist helps Chipped or Cracked Teeth.

Depending on the severity of a patient’s cracked or chipped tooth, different levels of treatment might be required. In other words, each cracked or chipped tooth is different and what appears to be one thing when the patient looks at it might appear to be something else when I look at it closely as a dentist. A patient may come in and indicate that their tooth is chipped and that it has been chipped and repaired before. Initially, I would think about using bonding for a chipped tooth, which would produce a lovely smooth and natural looking finished tooth.

When bonding cannot hold the tooth as would be needed for the patient’s particular case, then the next level of treatment is considered– which would be a veneer or a crown instead of bonding.

Further, if the problem presented by the patient involves the nerve—for example if the cavity or the chip goes down into the nerve but is not below the bone level– then we would have to do a root canal with a crown restoration on top of the remaining natural tooth.

However, there are some cases when patients come in thinking they simply have a small chip or crack in a tooth, but upon examination in my office, we see something more serious. The method of treatment depends on where the crack is located. If the crack is above the gums and it is something that we can visually see and physically touch, then we can fix it.

If the crack goes below the gum line, and down into the patient’s bone, then the margin between the restoration and the tooth is not accessible. In those cases, the only solution is to remove the tooth and place a dental implant. We can take the tooth out, put an implant in and provide a temporary restorative tooth in the same day.

Dr. Alexander Lezhansky Bright Smile Design Dental Office in Manhattan and Brooklyn New Patients Welcome www.brightsmiledesign.com