So your watching your favorite TV show and snacking on some popcorn and…BOOM…you feel something larger than a popcorn kernel in your mouth! Much to your disappointment, it is your tooth that has fractured. This can happen to teeth when they are weakened by decay. You may or may not be in pain. What if it is a front tooth? This is a very common emergency.
There are some solutions to prevent you from walking around with a broken tooth:
1) bonding: this is the addition of tooth-colored material to build back the broken part of the tooth. It can be done in a single appointment and you will look good as new. This restoration can only work for small to moderate size fractures.
2) crown: this is more commonly referred to as a “cap”. It is a laboratory-made restoration which is cemented on top of your own tooth to make it strong and functional.
3) implant: there are times when the fracture or decay extends down onto the root surface at which point the tooth will need to be removed. The tooth can be removed and an implant can be placed the same day with a cap so that you will have a tooth in the missing space. Once the implant has healed, a final crown is made to seat onto the implant. This procedure is more commonly referred to as an “immediate implant”.
In the event you experience a situation where your tooth breaks, you can be rest assured we have a solution that will allow you to have the tooth fixed or replaced on that same day!