A Small Dental Fracture Might Be Repaired with a Standard Filling

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Small dental fractures are often the result of mundane activities. This could include a bad habit of nibbling on pens and pencils, improvising your teeth as tools, or playing sports without a required mouth guard. Grinding your teeth at night without the protection of a dental guard can also put you at increased risk for dental fracture.

Even if the chipped tooth doesn’t cause discomfort, you should still seek treatment at Dr. Jackie Brown’s Germantown, Tennessee, clinic. Over time, plaque and food residue could become trapped in the chipped tooth enamel, causing tooth decay to afflict the tooth.

Sometimes a small dental fracture can be repaired by having Dr. Jackie Brown apply a simple filling.

After an examination of the tooth to assess the extent of the damage, Dr. Jackie Brown will numb the tooth and surrounding gums with an injection of Novocain. Then he will use a drill to remove a small amount of tooth enamel. This will provide a clean, healthy surface for the final filling to bond with.

The specific material Dr. Jackie Brown selects for your filling will depend on the tooth’s primary function as well as how visible it is in your smile. A composite filling is made from a special type of dental resin. It can be shaded to match the surrounding tooth enamel, making it difficult for the casual observer to even notice the filling.

A filling made from amalgam is a blend of special dental-grade metals. These metals are soft when they are first applied to the tooth, but we will harden them with a special ultraviolet light. With renewed good oral hygiene habits, the filling should restore the full strength and integrity of the tooth for many years to come.

If you live in the Germantown, Tennessee, area and you have suffered a chip on one of your teeth, you should call 901-758-1000 to have it treated by Dr. Jackie Brown.