Your teeth are meant to last you for most of your lifetime. Unfortunately, accidents and illnesses can weaken your teeth and make them prone to damage.
If you're dealing with a damaged tooth, here are four options available to you to help clean up your smile.
1) Dental Implants
When you damage a tooth, the consequences can range from mild to severe. Mild damage will require a little bit of work to repair and stabilize the tooth. Severe damage will result in more drastic measures being taken. Having the tooth removed completely and a dental implant installed in its place is one of these drastic measures. When a tooth is dead or dying, a dental surgeon will remove the tooth and replace it with a fake tooth with a titanium core. While it is expensive, the replacement looks just like your other teeth and make it easier to chew, maintain the structural integrity of your jaw, and is a more permanent solution than dentures. These replacement teeth are cared for with the same brushing and flossing schedule as your other teeth.
2) Veneers
A damaged tooth isn't always in such bad shape that it needs to be pulled. Sometimes, you can get away with simply having a veneer implanted. A veneer is a tooth-colored shell that gets placed over your damaged tooth to make the tooth look whole again. These are commonly used if you have a chip in your tooth or even to cover up more extreme stains. Veneers can be made of either porcelain or composite resin. Porcelain is more durable but very expensive. Composite resin is more affordable and can be installed in one day. This veneer will be surgically attached to your damaged tooth to act as a shield against further damage and to perfectly resemble a healthy tooth to preserve your smile.
3) Crowns
Dental crowns are a very popular method for treating and repairing damaged teeth. A crown is a cap that is placed on a damaged tooth to restore it to its natural shape and integrity, while preventing any irritants from getting past the damaged enamel and into the root. Dental crowns can be made of porcelain, gold, composite resin, or other metals. Installing a dental crown is a way to fix a tooth that is so irreparably damaged that its integrity can't be restored by using a filling. Crowns have a varied life span, able to last anywhere from five to 15 years. Good oral hygiene, such as brushing, flossing, and avoiding clenching or grinding your teeth will help improve the lifespan of dental crowns.
4) Fillings
Fillings are an affordable and simple way to repair damages to your teeth. They're most commonly used to fix damages caused by cavities. Fillings used to consist of amalgam, which is a combination of various metals, but recent advancements in dental technology have created fillings that consist of composite resin. These fill in the gap in your enamel caused by the cavity, prevent further exposure to cavity-causing bacteria, and ensure that the hole doesn’t get any closer to the root of you tooth.
Don't risk suffering tooth loss by ignoring tooth pains and damages. A great deal of your health depends upon the care and structure of your teeth, and it’s important that you maintain them. Whether the tooth needs to be covered, filled, or replaced, leaving a damaged tooth without care can lead to further problems down the road. The quicker you take care of a damaged tooth, the cheaper and easier your options become.