A broken tooth can give you nightmares with unbearable pain. Whether you experience an unfortunate fall, get involved in an accident, or happen to knock your tooth out in any other way, seeing an emergency dentist Wyoming is imperative.
Immediate medical attention is much more vital than you think. Apart from mitigating your pain and stopping the bleeding, timely medical intervention can prevent long-term dental complications. Make sure to visit an established dental clinic like Teledentistry. In case of an emergency, you can also consult these professionals online round the clock.
Regardless of how you break your tooth, you have effective solutions to fix it, thanks to advanced dentistry. In this article, you will come to know what you should do in case you end up breaking your tooth. Besides, we have discussed some common treatment processes to help patients.
What can happen if your tooth gets chipped or knocked off?
‘Broken tooth’ is a broad term encompassing a wide range of damages to your tooth. This includes complete tooth breakage or partial chipping of your tooth. As the external enamel on the outer layer breaks, the tender pulp and dentin get exposed. There are no blood vessels or nerves in the enamel. Therefore, you won’t experience any pain if you damage your enamel.
However, since the dentin or pulp gets exposed, you will experience severe toothache. Besides, a bacterial infection in the exposed inner layers would aggravate your dental health. It would discolor the remaining part of the enamel, enhancing temperature sensitivity.
A broken or knocked-off tooth can also cause pain and bleeding. So, it’s imperative to see an emergency dentist to address the issue.
What to do if you have a broken tooth?
While consulting an emergency dentist is crucial after you break your tooth, here are some tips to help you immediately mitigate the pain and bleeding.
- Collect the fragmented pieces or uprooted teeth to carry them to the dentist in a clean, dry container.
- Hold the crown of the tooth while rinsing it with warm water to remove the debris and dirt.
- Apply a cold compress on the area to reduce the pain and swelling.
- Schedule an appointment and follow up on the protocol.
For the next few days, make sure to avoid consuming hard foods. The dentist would cover the remaining tooth with chewing gum or wax so that the sharp edges don’t cause soreness in your tongue or the teeth.
Common treatments for a broken tooth
In case you have a broken tooth, reputed dentists would inspect the condition and recommend some of these medical processes.
Dental fillings
Fixing broken teeth is relatively uncomplicated when you go for dental fillings. In case you have a broken or cracked tooth, dentists can temporarily fix it using a restorative material. So, if you have cavities in your teeth leading to damage, dental fillings would be a practical and cost-efficient treatment process.
Dental sealants
Sealants are more suitable for fixing holes in your teeth. So, if you have a broken or cracked tooth, your dentist might recommend a sealant to fix it. Besides, dental sealants serve as a shield against infections in your teeth. Generally, dentists seal the back side of the premolars and molars in your oral cavity.
Dental veneers
Dental veneers are customized shells made of composite resin or porcelain. These colored shell-like installations are popular restorative solutions to enhance your facial beauty.
Dental crowns
Dental crowns serve as a shield against external exposure of the dentine and the pulp. Installing dental crows cover the affected region. Compared to veneers, they are thicker and help restore the normal appearance and shape of your tooth. Typically, dental crowns are made of ceramic, porcelain, and metal. In case you have a broken or decayed tooth, your dentist might recommend getting a crown.
Dental implants
Restoring a broken or chipped tooth might sometimes turn out to be a complicated process. This explains why dental implants are necessary. The process is extensive and can help in restoring broken teeth. Dentists install these implants close to the gum line. When dentists need to remove the broken tooth altogether, they recommend getting an implant.
Root canal
At times, broken teeth can be more complicated to treat. This calls for more sophisticated treatment processes like root canals. In case the infection in a broken tooth spreads to the pulp, a void space develops in the teeth. In these situations, dentists suggest getting a root canal treatment. In this process, they remove the infection and install a dental crown. This eventually prevents the infection from spreading further.
Bonding
Bonding is yet another way to address a damaged or broken tooth. Dentists use a composite material chip to enhance or correct the tooth’s appearance in these cases. Then they use a blue light to harden the molding and eventually fix the tooth.
Now that you know the common processes of treating a broken tooth, you can seek the right treatment from professionals. A chipped, broken, or cracked tooth happens to be a dental emergency. So, don’t delay visiting a dentist or seeking dental treatment. Based on the severity of the damage and the condition of your tooth, reputed dentists would recommend the ideal solution.
Endnote
Ignoring a damaged tooth can lead to long-term complications and permanent damage to your tooth. This explains why reputed dentists at Teledentistry recommend seeking professional consultation immediately when you detect damage.
Left unattended, bacteria infect the exposed pulp, and you might soon find your teeth yellowing or discoloring. Timely medical interventions like root canals or filling can reduce such risks. At the same time, the proper dental treatment ensures that you can always flash a confident smile without worrying about missing teeth!
Dentists at Teledentistry are available online 24/7 to support you. Feel free to consult these dentists for effective and timely dental care.