Under this umbrella term, many treatment plans will improve your smile. Teeth can withstand a lifetime of chewing, as enamel is the strongest part of the human body. However, if they end up cracking or breaking, the cosmetic dentistry treatment you would benefit from is teeth bonding.
How Teeth Break
Despite preconceived notions, extractions aren’t too painful. We will numb the area around the tooth and provide nitrous oxide, aka laughing gas, if you need it. With the combination of these or just an anesthetic, the pain reduces to a sensation of pressure and mild discomfort.
Physical Trauma
Blunt force injuries are the main reason for tooth damage, resulting from many different things. Similarly, knocked-out teeth are the leading reason for emergency dentistry. Here are common ways physical force can break a tooth:
- Sports
- Fights
- Accidents and injuries (vehicle, construction, falls, etc.)
Eating and Drinking
Despite happening often daily, nourishing yourself can prove dangerous. There are numerous innocent ways that teeth break during mealtime. Here are the most common ways of this happening:
- Biting cutlery
- Chewing ice
- Crunchy foods
- Biting into an apple or pear
- Eating candy, jerky, corn on the cob, etc.
While not exhaustive, this list demonstrates how easily enamel failure can occur. Even drinking from a glass bottle can chip or even knock a tooth out. However, if you find yourself in one of these scenarios, have a tooth bonded may patch you back up.
Bruxism
This is the condition where you either grind, gnash, or clench your pearly whites. While not common, this occurs in 15% of youth, 8% of middle-aged people folk, and dwindles to just 3% in the elderly.
There are two different forms of bruxism, diagnosis is dependent upon when your grind. While all grinding is unconscious, there are awake bruxism and sleep bruxism. Despite the one you believe you struggle with, symptoms manifest as:
- Flattening of teeth
- Exposed inner tooth layers
- Elevated tooth pain or sensitivity
- Soreness of face, neck, or jaw
- Earaches
- Dull headaches (temples)
- Disrupted sleep
Treatment for bruxism usually isn't required as children outgrow the phase before it's done damage. Similarly, adults rarely grind badly enough to cause harm. Although many will never need a dentist visit, grinding can severely damage teeth, making them liable to cracks, chips, and full-on breaks. Dentists correct damage from bruxism by using the following:
- Restorative dentistry
- Cosmetic solutions
- Therapy
- Prostheses
- Inlays
- Crowns
Tooth Bonding Vs. Fillings
Despite the many similarities, having a filling done is different than having a tooth bonding treatment. While both treatments can repair compromised enamel, the circumstances that require the patchwork determine if it's a filling or bonding.
Fillings
Fillings are for localized areas of a tooth affected by a cavity or by decay. If your tooth has a small hole in it, your dentist will use a filling to fill it in. However, advanced decay leads to the death of the tooth. In the case of advanced decay, the only treatments available to use is are extraction or a tooth canal.
Tooth Bonding
While this process would fill a cavity, bonding is more than patching enamel. This treatment focuses on reshaping your tooth, changing its color, or altering other aesthetic qualities. This is one of the most cost-effective cosmetic treatments and is painless. It's quite infrequent when a patient needs anesthesia.
Looking for Cosmetic Dentistry Solutions?
No matter the reasoning behind needing cosmetic dentistry, we specialize in giving you your smile back. Not only that, we take pride in being able to offer high-quality for all ages. Whether it's an emergency or for a regular checkup, contact us today to make an appointment.
