You can get a chipped tooth through high impact sport, or accident. You can crack a tooth on a mint or a nut, who knows what can happen.

What you’re left with is a weakened tooth. You will eat food differently, may get food stuck in your tooth, promoting decay. You may be left with tooth ache, sharp edges cutting into your jaw and cheek. And there may be feelings of embarrassment with having a broken tooth.

If you don’t do something about it, the problem is only going to get worse. More of the tooth can break off as it is already weakened. Tooth decay accelerates, and tooth ache becomes an increasing risk.

In life everything will go through wear and tear, our teeth are no exception. Our teeth are a lot like our cars, even with regular oil changes and careful maintenance sometimes repair work is still required simply due to prolonged use. Research suggest our chewing force can be up to approximately 80kg, it’s then no surprise and understandably annoying and inconvenient when one of our tooth suddenly decides to break on a Saturday night when we are enjoying the family dinner.

Usually if the breakage is relatively minor, and if it does not bother you in terms of appearance, then the smooth can be simply smoothed off, like smoothing rough edges with a sandpaper, this is a quick, efficient, cost effective option.

If the breakage is more involved then a filling will be required on a tooth for optimum comfort. Depending on whether it is a front or back tooth there are feel different choices on the type of material that can be used to fill a tooth.

The Knoxfield surgery can help. Cosmetic dentistry, reconstructive dentistry, pain relief as well. We can get your smile back to the way it was, and have you eating everlasting gobstoppers once more.

• Metal Based Materials
  1. Amalgam - This the traditional mercury containing materials that looks silver in colour. The advantage with amalgam is their durability, which is why this material has been around for a long time.
     The main disadvantage with amalgam is their appearance as they appear silver in colour, so usually they are mainly used at the back of the mouth. There is ongoing controversy about the safety of amalgam dental materials. According to official guidelines, amalgam is a still a safe material.
  2. Gold - Literally, it looks gold in colour hence the name! Gold is the most durable filling material dentistry therefore if you do not mind the gold appearance then go for gold (No pun intended)!
     The disadvantage with gold is that it is quite expensive.
• Tooth Coloured Based Materials
  1. Composite - This is a plastic based material. The main advantage is that unlike the traditional metal based materials it is tooth coloured, therefore it is a great alternative those whom does not like the appearance of amalgam or gold.
     The disadvantage with composite is that statistically speaking it is not as durable as the metal based materials and more difficult to place.
  2. Ceramic - the material is commonly used in our well known pottery, and is a more durable tooth coloured material compared to composite.
     Therefore it is a great material for those whom wants something stronger than composite, but does not like the appearance of gold. Again like gold, the disadvantage is that it is quite expensive.