Chipped Tooth? Act Fast to Minimize Your Treatment Needs

Fixing a broken or chipped tooth is possible if you see a North Vancouver emergency dentist on the same day. Fortunately, Dr. Cegielski is providing essential care treatments to new and existing patients, even though our office is operating under different schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chipped teeth are best treated within the next 1-2 hours.  At Pier Dental Centre, we recommend placing your broken tooth fragment in a sealed container, so that there’s no chance of losing it. A zip-top bag or some form of Tupperware is ideal. Next, cover the tooth in a liquid so that it’s completely submerged and kept moist. Ideally you want to use milk, contact solution, or some form of saline. If none of those are available, you may use tap water as long as you add a pinch of salt. In desperate situations you can also use saliva; some people even place the tooth inside of their cheek. However, Dr. Cegielski doesn’t recommend this method as you could accidentally swallow it!

If there’s visible debris, don’t worry about cleaning it off. Unless it’s a completely knocked-out tooth. In that case you want to gently rinse it and do your best to reinsert the root back into your socket. Don’t force it. If you can’t get it in, store the tooth as mentioned above.

Pier Dental Center accepts emergency dental calls on a 24/7 basis. As soon as you chip or break a tooth, call us immediately. We’ll arrange to see you in our North Vancouver dentist office to try to bond the broken fragment back into place. Remember, time is of the essence! Feel free to call us even if you’re a new patient.