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Broken or missing tooth – what are your options?

Breaking or losing a tooth can be genuinely distressing. A broken or a cracked tooth could damage the soft tissue in your mouth and lead to bleeding and continuous discomfort. You may be unable to eat or drink normally for days and even months. 

If you lose a tooth, the initial discomfort may not be as significant – in some instances, it may only relate to the annoyance of having an empty slot between your teeth. Long term, however, a missing tooth can cause more damage than you’d imagine. If you lost a tooth from the bottom arch, for example, the opposite tooth from the top arch will start slowly sliding down and, in time, could fall out, too. Not to mention that as soon as space is created, the rest of your teeth will inevitably start moving, ultimately leading to crooked teeth with gaps and potentially – an incorrect bite.

There are solutions to all of the above problems, of course, but as you can imagine, each will be costly. Re-aligning your teeth if your bite is incorrect will require wearing braces which is a lengthy and pricey treatment. Incorrect chewing due to a missing tooth can cause indigestion problems, including bloating, gas, and acid reflux, amongst others.

Act on the minor issue rather than the big one

It’s much easier and quite frankly cheaper to find a solution to a cracked or missing tooth early in the process, and there are plenty of options.

Cracked or broken tooth

If you’re suffering from a cracked or broken tooth, there are plenty of options for you:

  • A minor chipping of the tooth can be corrected with tooth shaping or tooth bonding (depending on your circumstances)
  • More significant chipping may require bonding.
  • Some more significant breaking may be solved with an inlay or only.
  • Large breaking can be corrected with a dental crown (we offer same-day ceramic dental crowns to existing and new patients.
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Missing tooth

When a tooth falls off, you have a few options. The most common one is a dental bridge. It could be a temporary one (attached via “wings” to the previous and next tooth, in which case the other teeth are not shaved) or a regular bridge that requires a change to the two surrounding teeth. Your only other option is a dental implant unless a few teeth are missing, in which instance you can look at dentures.

Whatever you opt for when you lose a tooth, make sure you don’t delay your decision. If going for an implant proves challenging, opt for a temporary bridge (costs are between £600 and £800 usually) and get your dental implant at a later stage.

And if you’re struggling with the decision, book a consultation with one of our experienced dentists and discuss your options.

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