Chipped Your Tooth? Here's Why You Need it Fixed, ASAP
Chipped Your Tooth? Here’s Why You Need It Fixed, ASAP
No one likes having a chipped tooth. Not only is it painful and inconvenient, but flashing a smile with a chipped tooth is embarrassing. What most people don’t know, though, is that their chipped tooth can lead to serious dental problems.
Far from being just some cosmetic bad luck, chipped teeth bring with them the potential for a lot of gum, tissue, and filing issues. You could end up with periodontal disease, hyper-eruption, and more.
We’ll examine the different types of dental problems that can occur in a moment. First, we need to look at the different types of chipped teeth and how they might happen in the first place.
Types of Chipped Teeth
All broken or chipped teeth are not created equal. Not only are there several different types of chipped teeth, but each type varies in severity and the likelihood of leading to future dental issues.
There are craze lines and minor chips. These are probably what you think of when someone says they chipped their tooth. Both are small chips or cracks in your tooth that affect the enamel without extending further to the inside of the tooth. While craze lines and minor chips will not often lead to dental problems in the future, they are worth keeping an eye on.
There are cracked teeth. These are sometimes called whole tooth chips and impact everything from the enamel of your tooth down to the nerve. Cracked teeth need immediate dental attention. If they aren’t addressed immediately, you risk losing the tooth and having other dental problems.
There are major breaks. These include split teeth, root fractures, and others. A split tooth is when your tooth has fractured vertically into different sections. A root fracture is when a crack begins at the root of your tooth and grows through to the surface. Regardless of the type of major break, you need to seek immediate dental assistance. Without immediate dental care, you will undoubtedly lose the tooth and open yourself up to a number of future dental issues.
Your Chipped Tooth Could Lead to Serious Dental Problems
A chipped tooth can lead to any number of future problems. These range from the obvious (more decay) to the unusual (an increased likelihood of TMJ).
Some of the more serious dental problems associated with chipped or broken teeth include malocclusion, hyper-eruption, and periodontal disease.
Malocclusion is the misalignment of your upper and lower teeth. While this may sound minor at first, it can lead to difficulty chewing and pain in your jaw. It may also lead to TMJ.
Hyper-eruption is when you lose a tooth and its neighbor grows into the empty space. This can lead to all sorts of complications, including teeth growing in sideways, impacted teeth, and even exposed roots.
Periodontal disease is gum disease. There are around 65 million Americans who have some sort of gum disease, and many of these people end up needing either a gum graft or a bone graft to fix the problem.
Convinced that your chipped tooth is serious stuff? Then contact us today for a complimentary consultation from the premier dentists in New York!