The main reason why people want to get a chipped tooth fixed is that it doesn’t look very attractive. A damaged tooth can disrupt your smile line and even create an unsightly black gap in your smile.
But that’s not the only reason to correct a chipped tooth with a veneer or crown. In fact, there are several other important reasons to correct a chipped tooth.
Sharp Edges
If you have a chipped tooth, the newly created edges can be very sharp and painful to your tongue. Tooth enamel is similar to glass, and it often breaks to create an edge that can cut your tongue. These small cuts can be especially sensitive to salty or sour foods like lemon juice.
While the edge will eventually wear down smooth, it can take a long time, because tooth enamel is very hard, and the chipped edge may not contact food or opposing teeth because of the way it affects your ability to bite and chew. And instead of wearing down, it might keep chipping off to create new sharp edges.
Vulnerable to More Chipping
Once a tooth has chipped, the surface that’s created might encourage more chipping in the future. The sharp edge is vulnerable to getting chipped off. This creates new sharp edges, which are themselves vulnerable to being chipped off. The process can accelerate the wear of your teeth, especially if you are getting chipped teeth in both arches.
There are many reasons why your teeth might be more vulnerable to chipping.
Accelerated Decay
A chipped edge of your tooth can be more vulnerable to tooth decay. There are a couple of reasons why that might be the case. First, the shape of the chipped tooth can make an area where food and bacteria can collect. When this happens, oral bacteria will gather there and create more acid in the local area, creating a hole that then collects more food and provides shelter for more bacteria.
The other reason why decay might be faster in this area is that the chip might have exposed your dentin, the darker-colored layer under the enamel. Dentin is not as resistant to tooth decay as enamel is, so once it’s exposed, cavities can grow faster.
Biting and Chewing Might Suffer
Your teeth are set up to work together as a team to bite and chew your food. If your chipped tooth no longer creates the proper shape when it teams up with your other teeth, it can make it harder for you to bite and chew your food.
Sensitivity
Chipping reduces the amount of protection around the sensitive tooth nerve. This can make the tooth more sensitive to heat, cold, and pressure.
In some cases, a chip has actually broken all the way into the nerve chamber. This can make the tooth very sensitive, and exposes it to infection. If a chip is damaged like this, root canal therapy is necessary to protect you from the consequences of an infected tooth.
Have You Chipped a Tooth in Sydney?
If you have chipped a tooth in the Sydney area, there are many reasons to get it fixed. If you are looking for a dentist who provides quality tooth repair, please call (02) 9686 7375 today for an appointment at My Hills Dentist in Baulkham Hills.
