You’ve chipped or cracked your tooth. This isn’t necessarily an emergency depending on the way the tooth has cracked and any other symptoms. In many cases, you’re going to wait to go to your own  in a couple of days.dental clinic in North Seattle

While you’re waiting, you possibly want to know what’s going to happen. What will your dentist do to fix the tooth that’s chipped or cracked?

The exact answer will depend on the severity of the problem and just what has happened to your tooth. Here are some steps your dentist may take.

Treating a Chipped Tooth Is Pretty Simple

In many cases, a chipped tooth is pretty simple to fix. There are chances that it’s just a small part of your tooth that has broken away. Depending on how that’s happened and the severity of the chip, you may find your dentist recommends just leaving it.

There are times that the chip is just a cosmetic thing. You then need to decide whether you want to pay for the repair as your insurance company is less likely to cover it.

A dental clinic in North Seattle will do repairs when they’re necessary. The chip may be large or it may be close to the gum. In this case, your dentist will need to look at whether the tooth needs to be extracted or not.

Your dentist may decide a partial denture is an option, a little like a filling but shaped to the tooth. This is when there’s no pain and there’s no risk of further damage to other parts of the mouth. There are other times when the tooth needs to be extracted and a full denture put in its place.

What a Dental Clinic in North Seattle Will Do for Cracked Teeth

What about when your tooth has cracked? This is usually when there’s a break within the tooth but nothing has pulled away just yet. However, water and food can get into the crack, causing future problems for the whole tooth.

A dental clinic in North Seattle will look at the full damage to the tooth. This will usually mean an x-ray to see how deep the crack goes, especially if there’s no pain around the tooth.

These cracks can often get worse. Depending on the direction and deepness, your dentist may recommend extracting the tooth completely. Another option will be to do a root canal or just a crown, depending on pain. This helps to protect the outside of the tooth and protects it from further damage.

In more severe cases, your dentist may need to remove the whole tooth. This then leads to the need for a denture to protect the rest of the mouth.

There are times that teeth will crack or chip. There’s not always something you can do about this, especially if you’ve been involved in an accident or the tooth has weakened due to fillings. Your dental clinic in North Seattle will assess the damage and figure out the best steps moving forward.