Treat Chipped & Cracked Teeth
with dental bonding
If your child has a misshapen tooth or a damaged tooth in Roanoke, dental bonding from We Care Dental Care may be the best way to restore their smile. As a child-focused dentist, Dr. Benjamin Burkitt can improve your little one’s smile, restore their bite, and reduce the risk of further complications related to a chipped or cracked tooth. Learn more below, or contact us to schedule an appointment right away.
What is Dental bonding?
Dental bonding uses a tooth-colored composite resin to repair and reshape a tooth. This resin is made from a blend of powdered glass and plastic, and is very similar to the material used for a tooth-colored filling.
Unlike fillings, however, dental bonding is used to reshape and restore the overall shape of your child’s tooth. While fillings are primarily concerned with filling up cavities, bonding can be used to restore larger portions of a tooth, such as a chipped tooth or a misshapen tooth.
Dr. Burkitt will apply this resin directly to your child’s tooth, then he will shape and sculpt it using special tools, restoring the overall appearance and function of the tooth.
In children’s dentistry, dental bonding is used for both cosmetic and restorative purposes. It can be used to restore a misshapen tooth, or to repair minor chips and cracks in your child’s tooth.
Will dental bonding help my child's cracked tooth?
This depends on the tooth and the extent of the crack or damage. Dental bonding can be used to fill in minor chips and cracks, covering up damage to the exterior enamel and restoring the shape and functionality of your child’s tooth.
However, this treatment is not recommended for very deep cracks and large chips, because these pose a higher risk of a tooth infection. If your child has a severely damaged tooth, it may be necessary for your child to get endodontic treatment to clean the inside of their tooth, as well as a dental crown to cover up and repair the damaged tooth.
For more information and to see if your child’s tooth can be treated with dental bonding, we recommend that you schedule an appointment with Dr. Burkitt right away.
Is it better to have a cracked tooth pulled?
Absolutely not. In almost every case, Dr. Benjamin Burkitt will recommend that you try to treat and save your child’s cracked tooth. Most minor cracks can be resolved with dental bonding, while deeper cracks and chips can be treated with a “baby root canal” (baby teeth) or a standard root canal (adult teeth) along with a dental crown.
Restoring and repairing a cracked tooth is always better than extracting it. If you have your child’s baby tooth extracted, you’ll need to get a “space maintainer” to ensure their adult teeth grow properly. And if your child needs an adult tooth to be extracted, it will need to be replaced with a dental implant.
For these reasons, we will always try to save your child’s cracked tooth whenever possible. Extracting and replacing the tooth is a last resort that will only be recommended if there is no other solution that will keep your child’s tooth healthy.