If you have chipped a tooth, keep any fragment, rinse your mouth with warm water, cover a sharp edge with dental wax or sugar-free gum, and have the tooth looked at within a day or two. Most chips involve enamel only and are not urgent. A chip that bleeds from the tooth itself, shows a pink or red dot in the middle, or hurts constantly needs to be seen the same day. The first hour is mostly about protecting the tooth and your tongue, not about fixing it.
If a tooth has broken and you are unsure how serious it is, call and describe it — that is exactly the kind of question to ask.
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What should you do in the first hour?
Keep the fragment if you can find it
A clean, reasonably sized fragment can sometimes be bonded back onto the tooth, which generally gives a better colour match than any filling material. Keep it in milk or in saline. Do not let it dry out, and do not scrub it.
Small chips are usually rebuilt with composite rather than reattached, so do not spend long searching — but if the piece is on the plate or in your hand, bring it.
Rinse gently with warm water
This clears debris and lets you see what has happened. If the gum or lip is bleeding, press a clean gauze or a folded tissue against it for around ten minutes. Bleeding from soft tissue is common when a tooth breaks and usually stops.
Cover a sharp edge
A fresh fracture line is often surprisingly sharp and can cut the tongue or the inside of the cheek within hours. Orthodontic wax from a pharmacy, or a piece of sugar-free chewing gum, moulded over the edge, is a reasonable temporary measure until the tooth is seen.
Manage discomfort sensibly
Ordinary over-the-counter pain relief taken according to the packet is usually enough for a minor chip. A cold pack against the outside of the cheek helps if the lip or face was also knocked.
Do not hold aspirin or any tablet against the gum. It does not help the tooth and it burns the tissue it sits on.
Eat on the other side
Avoid very hot, very cold or hard foods on that side until the tooth has been assessed. A chipped tooth is structurally weaker than it was, and a second break on the same tooth often turns a simple repair into a complicated one.
How do you tell a minor chip from a serious one?
Enamel only — usually minor
A small piece off a corner or an edge, no pain, no sensitivity, a white or slightly translucent break surface. Enamel has no nerve supply, so a chip confined to it does not hurt. This can generally wait for an ordinary appointment.
Into the dentine — needs attention soon
The exposed surface looks yellower than the enamel around it, and the tooth reacts sharply to cold air or cold water. Dentine connects to the nerve, so sensitivity is the signal that the break has gone past enamel. It should be covered reasonably promptly to keep the nerve settled.
Pulp exposed — same day
A pink or red dot in the middle of the break surface, or bleeding coming from the tooth itself rather than from the gum, means the nerve is exposed. Pain is usually constant rather than triggered. This needs to be seen the same day, because what is done in the first hours can determine whether the nerve can be kept.
A fractured or split tooth — different problem
If the tooth moves, feels loose, hurts sharply on release when you bite, or the break line runs down toward the gum rather than across the edge, the fracture may extend below the gum line. That is assessed differently from a surface chip — see our article on cracked tooth syndrome.
Not sure which of those describes your tooth? Describe it over the phone and it can usually be sorted out quickly.
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How is a chipped tooth repaired?
Smoothing
A very small chip on an edge is sometimes simply polished smooth, with nothing added. It is the least invasive option and is appropriate more often than people expect.
Composite bonding
Tooth-coloured composite is added and shaped to rebuild the missing corner in a single visit. At Berala Dental a composite restoration is $250 to $450 depending on the size and position of the repair.
A crown
When a large portion of the tooth is gone, or a cusp on a back tooth has broken away, a filling may not have enough remaining tooth to hold onto. A crown covers the whole tooth and is $1,500 to $1,800.
Root canal treatment
If the nerve is exposed or has been irreversibly damaged by the impact, the pulp is treated before the tooth is rebuilt. Root canal treatment is $1,600 to $2,200 and is usually followed by a crown.
Extraction
Where the fracture runs well below the gum and the tooth cannot be restored, removal is the honest answer. A simple extraction is $350 to $550 and a surgical extraction is $650 to $850.
All of those figures assume no health-fund contribution. A fund may cover some of it, and a written quote is provided before any treatment starts. Fees are set out on our fees page.
What if it is a child who has chipped a tooth?
The same first-hour steps apply. Two things differ.
First, a chipped adult front tooth in a child or teenager is worth seeing promptly, because the nerve in a young tooth is larger and sits closer to the surface, so a break of the same size is more likely to reach it.
Second, a knock hard enough to chip a tooth often also bruises the ligament around it, and a discoloured tooth weeks later is a known consequence worth monitoring. Children with chipped teeth are seen through our children's emergency care, and a well-fitted custom mouthguard is worth considering for anyone playing contact sport.
What if the tooth came out completely?
That is a different situation with a much tighter time frame, and it is covered in what to do with a knocked-out tooth. In short: an adult tooth should be handled by the crown, not the root, and either replanted immediately or kept in milk on the way in. A knocked-out baby tooth is not replanted.
Quick answers
Is a chipped tooth a dental emergency?
Usually not. A chip confined to enamel, with no pain, can wait for a normal appointment. It becomes urgent if the nerve is exposed, the tooth is loose, there is bleeding from the tooth itself, or the pain is constant.
Will a chipped tooth heal by itself?
No. Enamel does not regenerate once the surface has broken away. The tooth is not going to get worse on its own overnight in most cases, but the missing structure has to be replaced or the edge smoothed.
Why does my chipped tooth hurt with cold?
Because the break has gone through enamel into the dentine beneath, which connects to the nerve. Cold sensitivity after a chip is a signal that the tooth needs covering, not something to wait out.
Can a broken piece of tooth be glued back on?
Sometimes, if the fragment is clean, reasonably large and has been kept moist in milk or saline. It is not always possible, and the alternative — rebuilding with composite — is a routine and predictable repair.
Having a chipped tooth looked at
Broken teeth are one of the most common reasons people call, and no one has ever been made to feel silly for asking whether a chip matters. Emergency appointments are prioritised for anyone in pain. General guidance on dental injuries is also published by healthdirect.
If something has broken today, ring and describe it — we will tell you honestly whether it needs seeing now or next week.
Call (02) 9649 6468 · Book online · WhatsApp
You can also read about emergency dental care, tooth-coloured fillings, or how decay weakens a tooth before it breaks.
Written and reviewed by Humzah Aly, Oral Health Therapist. This article is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised dental advice. Please see a dental practitioner to discuss what is right for you.
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