Heart Health: Don't Neglect Dental Care

The central incisor teeth are the long, flat-fronted teeth located in the front of your mouth. The incisors, which play an important role in grabbing the food you need to chew, are also called the "two front teeth". If you have a cracked central incisor, the damage likely causes some bite and chewing issues but may also impact your self-esteem.

There are a few different dental treatments available from a cosmetic dentist or prosthodontist who specializes in restoring damaged teeth. What are the treatment options for a cracked central incisor?

Resin Dental Bond

Resin is a tooth-colored, but mostly opaque malleable material, that your dentist or prosthodontist can shape directly onto the surface of the cracked central incisor. The on-tooth forming can allow the dentist to cover the crack quickly and accurately without the need for shaving down the tooth, which costs enamel and dentin but is required for prosthodontics that involve a dental cement. When the resin shape is in place, the dentist hardens the material with a light.

The resin bond is the only reversible prosthodontics treatment since the piece isn't cemented to the front of your tooth and therefore won't cause much damage when removed. Resin isn't particularly stain resistant but also can't bleach with normal teeth whitening materials. And the resin isn't as strong as porcelain, so you need to chew carefully on that tooth particularly with harder foods.

Porcelain Dental Veneers

Resin bonds only cover the front of the tooth where the crack was located. Veneers can also only cover a front of tooth crack. Instead of forming the veneer onto the tooth, your dentist will create molds and lab-craft the veneer then cement the piece onto the shaved down tooth.

Porcelain has a tooth color and a bit of translucency that is also found in natural teeth. The material is more stain resistant than resin but still won't whiten with teeth bleaching so you need to practice good oral hygiene. Porcelain is stronger than resin but you will also still need to use caution when biting down on hard foods.

Metal-Backed Porcelain Dental Crown

Dental crowns cover the entire exterior of the tooth and work best for a central incisor that has large cracking that stretches beyond the front of the tooth. Crowns do come in an all porcelain option that closely matches the color and depth of a natural tooth but a metal-backed porcelain crown looks natural while having added strength at the base.

For more information concerning dental services, contact companies such as David D. Childress, DDS.