Chipped or Broken Front Tooth: What to Do First, and How It Is Repaired

A small chip with no pain is not an emergency and is usually repaired with bonding in a single visit. A larger break that hurts, shows a pink or red dot, or leaves a sharp edge needs a dentist within a day or two. A whole tooth knocked out is an emergency: keep it moist, ideally in milk, and see a dentist straight away. In every case, keep any broken piece.

How serious is it, and how soon do you need a dentist?

Dental injuries are far more common than people think. A 2018 meta-analysis estimated that about 15% of people have injured a permanent tooth, and that more than one billion people alive today have had a dental injury. Front teeth take most of them: a fall, a bottle, a fork, a hard olive stone. What matters is how much of the tooth is gone and whether the inside is exposed.

What should you do in the first hour?

For a chip or break: rinse your mouth with water, find the broken piece and keep it in a little milk or saliva, and cover a sharp edge with sugar-free gum or dental wax so it does not cut your lip or tongue. Use your usual painkiller if needed. Avoid very hot, very cold and hard food on that side.

For a knocked-out adult tooth, the NHS advice is clear: hold it by the crown, not the root; if it is dirty, rinse it briefly in milk or water without scrubbing; if you can, push it back into the socket and bite gently on a clean cloth; if not, keep it in milk or in your mouth next to the cheek, and see a dentist at once. Baby teeth should not be put back. If you are on holiday near Side, our emergency dentist page explains how to reach us.

How is a chipped front tooth repaired?

Bonding is the usual answer for a small or medium chip. Tooth-coloured composite is built up on the tooth and shaped by hand in one session of 30‑90 minutes, usually without anaesthesia, and little or no enamel is removed. Composite bonding lasts about 5‑7 years and can be polished or topped up.

A veneer suits a larger chip on a tooth that is otherwise sound, especially when you also want the shape or colour of the neighbouring teeth to match. A crown is better when much of the tooth is gone or when it has needed root canal treatment. Veneers and crowns take 5‑7 days with two appointments. The differences are set out in veneers, crowns or bonding.

Can the broken piece be glued back?

Sometimes, and it is worth keeping the piece in milk just in case, because it matches your tooth perfectly. But it is not automatically the better option. A 2023 study that followed 235 broken teeth found that direct composite repairs lasted longer than reattached fragments: about 65% of composite repairs were still intact after two years, against 43% of reattached pieces, and reattached teeth more often developed nerve problems. Both needed regular checks.

The dentist decides on the day, depending on how cleanly the piece broke and whether the nerve is involved. Whichever is chosen, a follow-up check after a few weeks and months matters, because an injured tooth can lose its nerve slowly, without pain, and darken.

When does the nerve need treatment?

When the break reaches it, shown by a pink or red dot in the broken surface, or when the tooth becomes painful, sensitive to heat or slowly greyer in the weeks after the injury. Then root canal treatment may be needed before the final repair, often followed by a crown. The treatment itself is done under local anaesthetic.

A tooth that darkens months after a knock is a common late sign. It is worth having checked even if it does not hurt, because the colour can often be improved and the cause treated before it becomes a bigger problem.

What if it happens on holiday?

Come in. The clinic keeps room for same-day problems Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 19:00, and WhatsApp is answered at any hour. Send a photo on WhatsApp and say when it happened and whether it hurts. Sometimes a temporary repair that gets you home is the right answer; sometimes there are enough days left to finish it properly. The dentist tells you which before starting.

If you only notice an old chip and want it fixed while you are here, a bonding repair fits easily into a holiday, and our guide to swimming, sun and flying after treatment covers the days after. Real repairs are in the smile gallery, and the contact page lists every way to reach us. Results depend on each case and the examination.