Breaking a Tooth

Breaking a Tooth

Causes and Dental Restoration Options.

A tooth can break for any number of reasons, often associated with teeth that have been weakened and compromised through poor oral care. A tooth that is weakened through decay, for example, is more prone to breaking than a healthy tooth.

Even healthy teeth can break though and this is more likely to be caused by an accident or blow to the face. Although often unavoidable; tooth damage through playing contact sports can usually be minimised by using a mouth guard during the game.

Restoration

At the Smile Dental Practice in Bromley, we offer patients a variety of procedures that can be used to restore broken teeth. The most appropriate treatment will be decided following examination of the damaged tooth by our experienced team of dentists.

Minor breakages

Where a tooth has suffered damage to the surface or perhaps significant staining, a dental veneer may be an option providing that it is a front tooth that is affected. Whilst a veneer may not be sufficient for more extensive damage, where cosmetic damage alone has occurred which affects the appearance, veneers do offer an excellent solution. Dental bonding may also be used when only minor damage has occurred but it is not as strong or long lasting as a porcelain veneer and also more prone to discolouration.

Filling or a crown?

Where more extensive damage has occurred to a tooth, veneers and the like will not offer a suitable solution. It is more likely that an onlay, inlay or dental crown will be used. The use of each will depend on the extent, and also the type of breakage that has occurred, and we will discuss this with you following your examination. Dental fillings will help to keep a tooth strong and functional and white dental fillings can be used to leave a suitably aesthetic appearance where deemed appropriate. Where a tooth has actually snapped though, building it up with a filling is unlikely to create sufficient strength for everyday use and further breakage is very likely. For this reason, a dental crown is the more likely, long-term solution.

To fit a crown, the tooth will first of all be prepared and impressions and measurements taken in order to have the crown produced at a dental laboratory. Once this has been done, the crown can be attached to the prepared tooth, offering a strong, sustainable solution.

If you do break a tooth, please call our Bromley dental practice as soon in the day as you can, in order to prevent both further damage and potential cuts to the mouth on any sharp edges of the broken tooth. At the Smile Dental Practice, we will always try to fit you in for an emergency appointment where we can.

Please get in touch today on 020 8462 2473.