Real Treatment Case of a Chipped Front Tooth: A Broken, Discolored Front Tooth After a Fall

A chipped front tooth is a surprisingly common accident, especially in winter.

It can happen when you slip, fall, or bump into something, and there are also cases where a front tooth breaks after bumping into something following a lot of drinking at year-end or New Year gatherings.

Front teeth can also chip while chewing something hard.

Today, I’ll share a case of treating this kind of chipped front tooth at Yonsei Yegam Dental Clinic at City Hall Station, Exit 7, located 3 minutes straight on foot (233m) (across from the main Samsung building) in front of City Hall Station.

[We only share cases with the patient’s consent.]

The patient above visited the clinic saying, “I fell after drinking and my front tooth broke.”

Of the two front teeth above, one tooth (on the right in the photo) was broken very extensively in a diagonal direction,

and the other one (on the left in the photo) had a crack, as shown in the picture.

Broken front tooth after impact. Orthodontic retainer attached behind the front teeth.

It was painful when chewing or touching it, and the more badly broken tooth was also sensitive.

In teeth that have suffered this kind of trauma, root canal treatment is often needed in cases of severe injury.

At first, the plan was to place a veneer only on the heavily broken right tooth, since the left tooth only had a crack.

The reason we chose a veneer instead of a crown was that, as shown in the right photo,

a retainer had been attached to the back of the tooth after orthodontic treatment. In the case of a crown, the retainer would not adhere well to the crown, and after placing a crown, a new retainer would need to be remade.

So, we decided to use a veneer, which could be bonded by minimally working on the front side of the tooth without significantly affecting the area with the retainer.

Broken front tooth (left photo), temporary resin placed on the broken front tooth (right photo)

The right tooth also needed root canal treatment, so while that treatment was being carried out, we temporarily placed resin as shown in the right photo so the patient could continue daily life without wearing a mask, and fortunately, it did not look very noticeable.

Temporary really means temporary, so it is not perfect or particularly beautiful.

Temporary resin placed for short-term use

While root canal treatment was being done several times with the temporary resin in place,

after a few weeks, we observed that the left front tooth, which had not been badly broken and had been left alone, was gradually turning reddish in color.

Discolored traumatized tooth

In traumatized teeth, gradual discoloration can often be seen as the tooth nerve slowly dies.

For that reason, root canal treatment is also commonly needed.

We decided to perform root canal treatment on this discolored tooth as well, followed by a veneer.

Because veneers are thinner than crowns,

the discoloration may show through in cases like this.

A crown might be better if you consider the possibility of showing through, but as mentioned earlier,

there was an orthodontic retainer attached behind the tooth, so we decided to do veneers together.

In other words, a total of two teeth received veneers.

By thoroughly carrying out the masking process, and since these were the two center front teeth, we made them slightly whiter than the existing teeth,

which also made the overall teeth look brighter, so we made the veneers a little whiter.

However, if there had been no discoloration, masking would not have been necessary, and the translucency of the teeth could have been a bit more natural.

Because masking was needed due to the discoloration, it was a bit disappointing that the final result was slightly more opaque.

Still, it did not look unnatural in the mouth, and because they were whiter, the overall smile looked brighter.

This is a photo after placing veneers on the broken front tooth and the two discolored front teeth.

They were made slightly opaque to cover the discoloration.

To summarize:

• A severely broken tooth

2. A tooth that later became discolored

3. And a case with an orthodontic retainer attached behind the teeth

The treatment proceeded as shown in the photos above.

If there had been no orthodontic appliance attached, a crown or another method could also have been used.

In other words, every case is different and the degree of fracture will also vary,

so you must receive a diagnosis and consultation from the dentist who will treat you, and proceed with the treatment method appropriate for each individual tooth.

In addition, traumatized teeth may slowly lose nerve vitality or show symptoms later,

so please consult with a dentist and proceed carefully.

In the case of front teeth, treatment requires much more careful attention to color and shape than molars,

so please receive proper consultation and treatment from a clinic with extensive experience in front-tooth treatment.

There are also treatment cases for traumatized and discolored front teeth at the links below!

https://blog.naver.com/yonseiyegam/223164133365

https://blog.naver.com/yonseiyegam/223347286599

https://blog.naver.com/yonseiyegam/224056684804

So far, this has been Yonsei Yegam Dental Clinic in City Hall, Jung-gu, Seoul, explaining the treatment methods for a severely broken tooth due to trauma and treatment cases for discolored teeth caused by trauma. It is conveniently located for visitors from anywhere in Seoul, including Gwanghwamun, City Hall Station, Seoul Station, Namdaemun, Chungjeongno, and Seodaemun Station.

Yonsei Yegam Dental Clinic is visited even from overseas for beautiful and healthy teeth.