Accidentally chipping your tooth is an unfortunate situation. Chipping can happen simply by eating normally. The next thing you know, your tooth is chipped. Accidents happen, but who wants to appear less appealing or add another insecurity? Luckily, our Larchmont dentist, Eric Spellman, DMD, offers several treatments to remedy your chipped or broken tooth.

First, Dr. Eric Spellman will examine your chipped or broken tooth to determine the best treatment plan to restore your smile. Next, will discuss your treatment plan and begin the process to restoring your tooth and overall smile.

Treatments To Fix A Broken or Chipped Tooth

Dental Crowns

Dental crowns are a “cap” that covers a tooth. A crown restores a tooth to its natural shape, size, and function. Crowns are ideal when the chipped or broken portion of the tooth is significant, causing tooth pain when chewing or drinking. A dental crown is an effective solution to quickly repair the shape and look of your tooth, preventing further tooth damage from decay or exposed nerves.

CEREC Same Day Dental Crowns

We recognize that most patients have busy lives, so our Larchmont dentist office offers specialized CEREC same day dental crowns in Larchmont. CEREC dental crowns are made possible by computer-aided design and manufacturing or CAD/CAM.

The CEREC system enables our dentist, Dr. Spellman to prepare the damaged tooth and design a fine-looking porcelain crown all in a single day. Dr. Spellman uses an intraoral camera and CEREC software to develop a digital impression and create your crown. The digital design ensures an accurate and comfortable fit with our precise chairside milling unit.

Dental Bonding

Tooth bonding is a fast and painless solution for most small cosmetic chips. In the bonding process, first, Dr. Spellman will roughen the remaining enamel on the tooth for the composite to adhere better to the tooth’s surface. The composite is then shaped to replace the chip before it’s hardened with a dental curing light. The curing light instantly solidifies the material. Typically, dental bonding can last about ten years with proper oral care.

Porcelain Veneers

If you completely cracked your tooth or there was significant damage to the tooth, we may recommend dental veneers. Also, porcelain veneers may be your best option if you have chipped a tooth multiple times or wish to repair a tooth’s color.

A dental veneer uses porcelain material that covers the front surface of your teeth. Veneers give your smile a natural look while also providing strength compared to natural tooth enamel. For our cosmetic dentist in Larchmont, Dr. Eric Spellman, to apply a veneer, he will remove a small amount of your existing tooth structure to make room around the target area. Then, we will take an impression of the tooth to make the permanent veneer and place a temporary one.

Once the permanent porcelain veneer arrives, Dr. Spellman will remove the temporary one and clean it around the tooth. We will then place the adhesive and set it in the new veneer for an exact fit. Finally, the dental veneer is light cured, giving you a natural, beautiful smile.

Can My Natural Teeth Be Saved?

When your tooth hurts due to an infection, you may wonder if you should get it fixed and save the tooth or replace it with a dental implant. Before you decide on the latter option, schedule a consult with our Larchmont cosmetic dentist at Eric Spellman, DMD to see if you may save your natural tooth. Though new and shiny white, an implant is something you should only consider if our dentist, Dr. Eric Spellman cannot save the tooth.

There are several options for a tooth that has decayed:

1. Dentists can perform root canal treatment may if the damage is not extensive.
2. The tooth may also be extracted and replaced with an implanted synthetic tooth.
3. When an implant is not an option, then dentures are used. The least desired solution is extraction without replacement, leaving an empty gap in your mouth.

Benefits of Your Natural Tooth

Saving your natural tooth has several benefits that dental implants cannot offer Larchmont patients. First, your natural teeth maintain the structure of your mouth and jawbone, allowing you to chew normally.

When you repair a tooth with an implant, sometimes, the implant only partially fills the space. The empty areas between teeth can lead to bone loss. In addition, your teeth may shift around to fill the space, changing the overall position of your teeth. It may lead to a bite failure, a case known as occlusion. Not only does occlusion affect your appearance, but it also creates difficulties in chewing food. More dental treatment is required to fix these problems.

Your teeth do much more than mechanically chew food. Teeth contain nerves that send communication to the brain. These messages tell your brain how hard to chew, protecting your teeth from biting too hard. Unfortunately, implants have no nerves, so the sensory connection with the brain is lost.

Can My Tooth Be Saved?

Root canal or endodontic therapy is the most common natural tooth preservation procedure. However, when your tooth decays and develops cavities, the pulp inside your tooth can get infected. Therefore, your endodontist, Dr. Eric Spellman, will make an opening at the top of your tooth during root canal treatment to access the interior. Next, your endodontist uses specialized equipment to remove the decayed tissue; the root canals are cleaned and filled with a permanent bio-compatible material. Finally, your dentist fills the opening and installs a dental crown over your tooth for permanent protection.

At Eric Spellman, DMD, our Larchmont dentist has over 30 years of advanced training and utilizes the newest technology to provide each patient with top-level dental care. Root canal treatment ensures that the process is relatively pain-free. In addition, root canal treatments have fewer post-operative complications and failures than dental implant procedures. By choosing root canal treatment, you will continue to enjoy all the health and cosmetic benefits of keeping your natural tooth.

Our primary goal at Eric Spellman, DMD, is to offer Larchmont patients the best dental treatment for your smile needs. After a comprehensive examination, we will decide the best action for dental care for you. When possible, we strive to save your natural tooth so you can avoid potential complications of implants while offering you the best outcome for your dental health.

Schedule An Appointment with our Larchmont Dentist!

Contact our dentist in Larchmont, Dr. Eric Spellman, at 914-315-4446 to schedule a consultation to preserve your natural teeth. With over 30 years of experience, our advanced trained dentist, Eric Spellman, DMD, treats patients from Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Scarsdale, NY, and many surrounding areas.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring trace mineral that has been clinically proven helpful in fighting cavities and strengthening teeth. While fluoride is a mineral many of us have heard of, we often don’t know much about it. Although you don’t need to know everything about fluoride to reap its benefits, knowing what you’re ingesting and why is always a good idea! So, if you’re curious about the mineral fluoride and how it’s helping your overall oral health, read on to learn more about fluoride, the fantastic enamel enhancer!

5 Interesting Facts About Fluoride

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral.

You can find fluoride in all naturally occurring water sources. Fluorine enters public or community water supply by leaching into the groundwater from soil and rocks.

There is fluoride in my tap water!

Most cities in the U.S. add fluoride to the community water supply to help people’s oral health. The American Dental Association (ADA) cites community fluoride programs as beneficial in lessening tooth decay among adults and children. Unfortunately, the recommendation of fluoride concentration in water is a minor 0.7 parts fluoride per million parts water. Even at this low concentration, fluoride helps to strengthen of tooth enamel.

Bottled water won’t help your teeth from tooth decay.

While water from the tap or public drinking fountains has been treated with fluoride to help your teeth stay strong, most bottled water brands do not contain optimal fluoride levels. As a result, children and adults who habitually drink bottled water over the tap are more susceptible to cavities and tooth decay.

Home filtration systems vary in level of fluoride.

Some home filtration systems can impact the levels of fluoride in water. For example, reverse osmosis and distillation systems drastically lower the fluoride concentration. On the other hand, carbon and charcoal water filtration systems do not impact the level of fluoride in tap water.

You can ingest fluoride topically or systemically.

When you ingest fluoride topically, for example, through toothpaste, mouthwash, or rinsing your mouth out with tap water—fluoride helps to strengthen your existing enamel, making teeth less susceptible to tooth decay. In addition, systemically ingested fluoride from drinking water acts from within the body to help improve your teeth. Systemically ingested fluoride also aids in topical fluoride’s protection because it enters the saliva, coating the teeth in a protective fluoride barrier.

Schedule A Dentist Appointment!

Contact our dentist in Larchmont at (914) 315-4446 to schedule a dentist appointment. With over 30 years of experience, our advanced trained dentist, Eric Spellman, DMD, treats patients from Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Scarsdale, NY, and many surrounding areas.