I chipped the biting edge of my front tooth. It is hurting my gums. I had a dentist put some composite bonding on the tooth, but it fell off just a few days later, so I don’t have much faith in that particular type of treatment. I don’t know where dental technology is at the moment. Do we have anything which will help teeth to regrow?
Sally
Dear Sally,
Occlusion, which is how the teeth come together, is an important aspect of dentistry. Every time you close your mouth, the incisal edges of your bottom teeth will hit the insides of the upper incisors.
Apparently the dentist fixing your tooth didn’t know that. The tooth has to be fixed in a way that takes those occlusal stresses into account.
As an example, look at the image above. It has a chipped lower incisor. This incisor is a bit in front of the other teeth, which means it is going to hit with a bit more force. I would not expect the repair on this to last long if all the dentist does is put some dental bonding over the chip without adjusting the position of the tooth a bit.
Here is an example of the correct repair on this tooth.
I found something specific to your case. These images are courtesy of a colleague Dr. Ian Bell of Bellevue, WA.
To repair a tooth in your type of situation, the tooth first has to be shaved in a way that puts it in a good occlusal position. One that happens, then the repair is much safer. In this case, porcelain veneers were used instead of composite bonding.
You will want an expert cosmetic dentist to do this. As you’ve discovered, your average family dentist will not be able to do this well.
This blog is brought to you by Hoffman Estates Dentist Dr. William Becker.