Alternative Solutions for Chipped Teeth

Did you know that your enamel found on your natural tooth is the strongest form of body tissue that your body can create. But even the strongest tissue in your body can break.

Hard foods, painful knocks and bumps can lead to minor to even major cracked teeth. The split tooth can lead to further oral health issues if the tooth is already decayed.

If a tooth is badly chipped and causing discomfort, it’s recommended that you see your dentist to ensure there are no major issues with your cracked tooth or teeth . However, more often than not it is the unsightly look of a chipped tooth that most people have the biggest problem with.

Generally chipped teeth are considered a purely cosmetic issue, as there is more damage to the way the tooth looks than to the tooth itself.

How to fix a chipped tooth

There are different cosmetic treatment options available depending on the severity of the chip. Chipped tooth repair options include:

Filling - only typically used on your side or back teeth, as opposed to your front teeth as it needs a hollow area to attach to.

Bonding - this can be used on a chipped front tooth or any visible teeth. The tooth is first lightly roughened using a special gel or liquid to prepare it. Then, a dental chemical adhesive is put on the tooth and a resin material applied. The bonding material is then shaped and set using a special UV light.

Dental crown - a 'cap’ shaped like a tooth is placed over the cracked tooth (more so with a chipped molar) to cover it to improve its appearance. This will have to be done multiple times if you have lots of chipped teeth. Temporary crowns are made at your local dentist whereas permanent crowns are made in a dental lab first, before being applied by your dentist.

With this in mind, it may take several appointments with your oral health professional to ensure that the procedure is complete. This can become a lengthy and costly affair, possibly setting you back thousands.

Dental veneers - Dental veneers are tooth shells made of composite material and sit over the original tooth. In order to position the dental veneer onto the tooth, the tooth must be sanded down into a stump that will give the veneer an easy and smooth position onto the tooth's surface. To ensure that the veneer follows your natural gum line, the dentist will need to shape the veneer before being able to put it onto the tooth.

Root Canal Therapy - if the tooth is chipped to the extreme where the tooth's pulp is revealed (center of the tooth containing sensitive nerves and blood vessels). With the objective of saving the tooth from infection, the tooth's root canal will be the pulp removed, cleaned out and sealed off to ensure that it is no longer susceptible to infection.

Reducing the Pain

Sometimes you may not be able to see a dentist straight away, or you may not feel the effects of the pain straight away.

• Avoid eating hard foods and if possible, avoid using your broken tooth completely.
• Rinse your mouth out with salt water and take an effective pain relief medicine to sooth the pain
• In some cases, the tooth can become jagged and sharp which can cause possible rips and tears in the lip or cheek. Prevent this by applying wax paraffin or sugarless gum.

If the pain persists, it is advised to seek out the advice and guidance of an oral health professional.

You may not need treatment

Not all cracked teeth will need dental treatment. It is fairly common throughout life to receive minor craze lines or cracks in our enamel. This will not need treatment, however, there are ways to overcome these inconveniences.

Instasmile - With modern dentistry costing a small fortune, more people than ever are looking for an affordable alternative that can give them a dream smile.

As a clip-on alternative to traditional and invasive dental treatments, instasmile veneers will require no surgery, no dental visits and will cover your chipped teeth.

How much to fix a chipped tooth

As it is generally considered a purely cosmetic issue, it's unlikely your insurance will cover any costs to fix a chipped tooth.

As a rough estimate, without insurance cover it can cost $250-$2,000 to repair a chip on a single tooth, depending on whether a crown, cap, veneer or extraction is required in order to repair it.

• Bonding - between $84 and $250 per tooth
• Partial Crown or Crown - between $275 and $1,000 per tooth
• Dental veneers - between $950 and $2,500 per tooth

instasmile costs just $500 for a full top or bottom set of veneers, meaning you could save up to $10,000. Additionally it doesn't just improve the appearance of a single tooth, but is a multi-solution in one, helping with the appearance of the whole smile. Even if you compare instasmail to dental bonding, it's still the best solution. Because instasmile is actually tooth bonding at home at a lower cost without the time spent visiting the doctor.

Can instasmile cover a broken tooth, cracked tooth or chipped tooth?

instasmile will cover chips, cracks and broken teeth in an instant making it an affordable, convenient cosmetic solution to improve the appearance of your smile and hide broken teeth. They simply clip securely into place over your existing teeth.

• instasmile clip-on veneers are cheaper alternative to other cosmetic dental treatments for broken teeth that saves you $1,000’s
• Custom made & hand-finished for beautifully natural aesthetics
• Requires no surgical procedures or anesthetic, no shaving of enamel, and thus no damage to your own teeth.
• No dentist visits or having to squeeze in appointments, you simply take your own impression at home at a time that suits you to enable us to produce a perfectly bespoke, custom set of clip-on veneers.
• instasmile offers an additional solution that veneers can’t offer, by covering multiple missing teeth, broken teeth, and chipped teeth, whilst providing a whiter smile. You can even opt for a straighter looking smile too.