Picture this scene:
It’s just another everyday family dinner. You’re munching away on your delicious home-cooked meal and catching up with your nearest and dearest. You’ve never been more content to hang out with the fam and relax.
Suddenly you hear an unsettling crunch. Then, a searing jolt of pain quickly runs through your mouth. You know that you have a chipped or broken tooth.
It’s never a good time when you chip a tooth, let alone when you end up with a chipped tooth while having a good time!
It could be that you inadvertently bit down on your fork. On the other hand, it might have been a particularly stubborn rye seed on the bread you were eating. One thing’s for sure; however, the shard of the tooth you’ve fished out of your mouth and now hold between thumb and forefinger isn’t where it ought to be.
One thing we know is that self-care measures and home remedies can only go so far when it comes to something as crucial as trying to fix a broken tooth!
To get the tooth repair you so desperately need on your chipped tooth, you are going to have to see a dentist. However, there are a few things you can do and a few over-the-counter remedies that may help you manage the damage of that chip or break until you find a way to your dentist.
What Do You Do
Anything from a rogue frisbee in the park to a piece of hard candy can break or chip your teeth. While a dentist can help you come what may, knowing what to do immediately after tooth loss or a tooth chip is paramount.
Here we’ll look at some ways to temporarily fix a chipped tooth or crack (and save you some pain) at home until your dentist can get you in for an office visit and implement a more permanent fix.
Try Not to Panic
A chipped tooth or missing tooth can be traumatic in so many ways, especially if it’s a visible front tooth! However, panicking will only make things worse. It’s up to you to take fast and decisive action if you or a member of your family cracks or breaks a tooth!
The first minutes after the accident are some of the most important, as is often the case amid any chaos. Take a couple of seconds to breathe and assess the situation. Then, take the first steps to temporary dental repair at home.
Find and Preserve Any Lost Teeth
Your dentist may be able to repair your tooth by filling in some cracks and chips with a dental adhesive or bonding.
If only a tiny piece of the tooth is left in your mouth and you can find it easily, try leaving it in place for now! Then, your dentist may be able to repair the tooth where it is rather than removing it entirely.
Don’t pull on the remaining pieces of tooth or try to wiggle them out. Instead, use caution to leave the fragment precisely as is and find the rest of the broken tooth.
If any teeth have been removed in their entirety, there may still be the option to save the tooth if the root is intact!
Do your best to keep both removed teeth, and any tooth fragments clean, but do not use water to rinse them. Water can damage a broken tooth, causing the root within the tooth to swell and burst.
Use milk or a saline solution. If you don’t have access to these, use your saliva. This method can help to flush out any bacteria from the interface between tooth and air.
If your tooth has been knocked out from the root, your best option is to put the misplaced tooth back into position in your gums. If you can’t do this, because of pain or because there is a chip in your gums that won’t allow you to replace the tooth at home, put the tooth between your cheek and your gums until you can get to the dentist.
The dentist may advise that you get to the dentists office as soon as possible. If this is the case, make sure you remove any remaining food or other debris from your mouth before going in for any services.
Clean Up Your Mouth
Your broken or lost tooth brings with it a risk of infection and tooth decay. Brush the rest of your teeth to the best of your ability and rinse the injury site with saltwater.
If you are experiencing bleeding from the mouth or a tooth, try patching the bleeding area up with a gauze pad. If you are able to replace the tooth into its normal position, you may want to cover it with gauze or a handkerchief and bite down on that.
Cover Any Sharp Edges
Putting strain on sharp edges when your mouth is moving after you chip a tooth can be very painful, as well as risking further damage to your tooth or soft tissue. Do your best to cover any sharp edges on your tooth at home with dental wax.
Applying a layer of dental wax on a chipped tooth will prevent further damage to the tooth as well as protect it from bacteria in the mouth or any food particles leftover from your meal.
If you don’t have access to dental wax, try using chewing gum or gauze as a temporary solution. You should be able to find a dental wax or paraffin wax at any pharmacy.
Do Not Attempt Any Home Remedies That May Cause Further Damage
As previously stated, if a tooth is broken and incomplete, do not attempt to remove the rest of the tooth yourself. You can not only cause intense pain by trying to remove the tooth yourself, but you may also do a great deal of damage.
If you have tooth loss, a chip, or a crack, the only person who should be doing any poking or prodding at your teeth should be your dentist.
A dentist is skilled in tooth repair services. In addition, dentists go through many years of training to use medically reviewed techniques approved with your health in mind.
When you see a dentist for a chipped tooth or a broken tooth, they will have tools at their disposal that will get you feeling as good as new. Until then, don’t risk worse pain with no benefit by trying something that you found on youtube when you searched “temporary chipped tooth repair at home.” Your dentist cares about your teeth! Show them you do, too!
Bring Down the Swelling
If you have lost or broken a tooth due to trauma, you will likely experience a great deal of swelling in the mouth and gums. Swelling can make it difficult for an emergency dentist to get a clear idea of the extent of the damage.
There are necessary steps a dentist must take when assessing the damage to your chipped tooth, a missing tooth, or even a flaw or chip in your tooth enamel. For example, they may opt for x rays or do a bite test to check for things like connective tissue damage, broken blood vessels, or abnormal pain.
Severe pain could mean a more profound issue when all you can see on the surface is a crack. You may need root canal therapy.
A dentist cannot perform these services if the patient’s mouth is too swollen to get the job done.
To make sure that the emergency procedures can happen as soon as possible, it’s in your best interest to start mitigating the swelling as fast as you can. Try to bring down the swelling with a cold compress. An ice pack or a frozen bag of peas can be the difference between one quick procedure and numerous procedures over many visits.
A cold compress will also be an excellent way to numb the affected area and mitigate any pain experienced. If you still need pain relief, you can take over-the-counter pain medication like Ibuprofen or Tylenol. However, be sure not to exceed the recommended dosage with any medication.
See an Emergency Dentist
All of the above will help you mitigate the damage to the tooth and your pain or discomfort. However, it should go without saying that such temporary DIY fixes are only ever a quick solution. There is no way out of a jam when it comes to your teeth except to see a dentist.
You must see an emergency dentist as quickly as possible. They will be able to implement a solution to your emergency dental problems.
In some cases, they may be able to carry out an on-the-spot permanent repair. However, most of the time, they will put a robust temporary solution in place while you weigh up your options, such as getting a permanent crown or implant.
Children Should Still See an Emergency Dentist
Some people assume that a dentist may not be want to fix a crack or a chipped tooth is if the damaged tooth is one of the patients baby teeth. If this is the case, it’s still crucial for the patient to be medically reviewed! There may be more damage than what is seen on the surface as a small crack or chip.
It is just as crucial for a child to see a dentist for a chip or cracks than an adult. Skipping services for a child because it is likely that the damaged tooth will fall out soon could be detrimental to the patients further dental growth.
If you think that something is wrong with your or your family’s teeth, whether it’s a chipped tooth, a broken tooth, or even if you need bonding or a root canal, you should never be afraid to seek help from a dentist.
How We Can Help
At Patient Empowered Dentistry, we provide a range of solutions to suit all needs and budgets. So whatever the nature of your dental emergency, we can get you smiling again quickly.
We offer a range of solutions for chipped, broken, and lost teeth, including dental bonding for covering chips in front teeth or a dental cap to repair damaged back teeth. We can also review your other options if you need a more long-term fix.
If you need an emergency dentist, we can help you get empowered with a range of budget-friendly services that will keep you content and smiling. So get in touch with our team today. Your chipped tooth will thank you!
