A glass of water and soft toothbrush on a bathroom shelf

Quick answer

For a chipped or cracked tooth: rinse with warm water, save any broken fragment in milk, cover sharp edges with sugar-free gum or dental wax, and avoid chewing on that side. Book a dental visit within a day or two even if nothing hurts, because cracks travel and early repairs are simple ones. Pain on biting or release, sensitivity to temperature, or a deep crack after trauma needs a same-day appointment. A knocked-out or badly displaced adult tooth is an emergency measured in minutes.

In the first hour

  • Rinse your mouth gently with warm water
  • Found the fragment? Keep it in a little milk; occasionally it can be bonded back
  • Sharp edge shredding your tongue? Cover it with sugar-free chewing gum or pharmacy dental wax
  • Chew on the other side, and skip very hot, cold or hard foods
  • Painkillers as directed if it aches; nothing held against the gum

How urgent is yours?

  • Small corner chip, no pain: book within a few days. The repair is often a single visit of bonding.
  • Sensitive to hot, cold or sweet: book this week. The chip is close to the nerve's insulation.
  • Pain when you bite, or a sharp zing on release: classic cracked-tooth pattern. Same-day call; a crack that reaches the root can make the tooth unsaveable.
  • Tooth knocked loose, displaced or out entirely: emergency now. For a knocked-out adult tooth, handle it by the crown only, keep it in milk or inside your cheek, and call us on the way; minutes matter. Our emergency page has the full protocol.
Cracks don't heal and they don't stay put; every chewing cycle levers them wider. A crack caught early is a filling or a crown. The same crack a year later is often a root canal or an extraction.

How chips and cracks are repaired

Bonding rebuilds small chips in tooth-coloured resin, usually in one visit. A veneer suits front teeth with repeated or larger chips. A crown wraps and holds a genuinely cracked tooth together, taking the levering force off the crack. Root canal treatment enters the picture only when the crack has reached the nerve. The X-ray and examination decide; the written quote comes before any of it happens.

Why teeth chip in the first place

Heavily filled teeth, night grinding, sports without a mouthguard, and the ice-crunching habit are the usual suspects. Part of a good repair visit is naming yours, because a rebuilt corner on an unprotected grinder's tooth is a return appointment waiting to happen. Sometimes the follow-up is a night splint or a custom mouthguard, not more drilling.