Popular Cosmetic Procedures from a General Dentist for a Chipped Tooth

Seeing a general dentist for a chipped tooth is important. Your damaged tooth has weakened integrity. The enamel in that section of your tooth is gone. This leaves it open to infection. Repairing this chipped area is a priority. If you want to find out about your general dentist’s popular cosmetic treatments for chipped teeth, here are the details.

Dental bridge

The general dentist might suggest this option for a quick solution to a damaged tooth. The damage may have gone beyond the gumline. For this case, the dentist will need to extract the tooth. A dental bridge can fill the missing space without surgery. This treatment involves grinding down the two teeth on each side of the space. This allows the crowns to fit over these teeth to anchor the bridge.

Dental bonding

A tooth with a small piece chipped off is a good candidate for dental bonding. The general dentist will perform the treatment in one dental appointment. This is a simple, non-invasive form of cosmetic dentistry procedure. The general dentist may need to use a filling if the damage is on the crown.

Damage to the front tooth will need a dental bonding procedure. Bonding uses a tooth-colored composite resin to repair the damage. This allows the repair to be discreet. It also enables the treated tooth to blend with the neighboring natural teeth.

Porcelain veneers

The general dentist can also suggest this cosmetic procedure to correct a chipped tooth. Veneers are thin porcelain shells. The dentist roughens the tooth first. Then the dentist bonds these shells to the patient’s chipped tooth, covering the damage. Porcelain veneers also make the teeth appear in alignment.

Dental implants

The general dentist can combine dental implants with crowns to create a dental structure similar to a natural tooth. This might be the restoration if the damage of the tooth goes beyond the gumline. For this case, the dentist will extract the tooth and insert a titanium rod in place of the damaged tooth root. Osseointegration must happen. This process is the fusion of the titanium rods to the patient’s gum and jawbone. Then, the attachment of the abutment and dental crown will follow.

Dental crowns

This cosmetic procedure will involve grinding the damaged tooth. The general dentist will do this to make the porcelain crown fit over the tooth. Grinding will level much of the tooth’s natural crown to the chipped section. This will result in a natural-looking repair, unnoticeable to the untrained eye. A porcelain dental crown is ideal because it looks and feels like a natural tooth.