How a Chipped Tooth Can Quickly Become a Dental Emergency
Did you know that the only truly solid part of a tooth is the enamel layer? Composed of calcium and phosphorus among other minerals, the enamel layer keeps foreign matter like food debris and bacteria from entering your teeth. Keep your enamel intact, and your teeth will remain infection-free. But what happens when you compromise that enamel layer?
Teeth Are Composed of Three Layers
Your teeth consist of three layers, the enamel layer, the dentin layer and the hollow section in the middle, which contains the pulp. Enamel is your teeth's armour, and it is the hardest material in your entire body. However, despite its hardness, enamel isn't impervious to damage. Chew on ice, boiled candies or even your nails regularly, and even enamel will eventually crack or crumble.
This is bad news because the second layer of a tooth is much weaker than the first layer.
The Dentin Layer Contains Tiny Tubules
The second layer of your tooth cushions your teeth as you eat, and serves as a means for your teeth to nourish themselves. This nourishment comes in the form of dentinal fluid, which contains elements like potassium and chloride. In a healthy tooth, this dentinal fluid travels from the tooth nerve to the dentinal layer via tiny tubules.
While in intact teeth, this flow of liquid keeps teeth strong, hydrated and vital, in chipped or cracked teeth, this flow becomes the means by which serious dental issues can occur.
Bacteria Can Invade Teeth Via the Dentin Layer
If you chip or break a tooth and expose the dentin layer beneath your enamel, unless you repair that tooth soon, a dental infection could soon set in. This happens because some of the species of bacteria that live in your mouth are able to travel up the dentinal tubules in dentin to invade the inner part of a chipped tooth. If they make it to the nerve, the nerve may soon die.
If the nerve in the centre of your tooth dies, it will begin to rot. As it rots, more bacteria will invade the tooth via the dentinal tubes and make their way to the dead nerve. As they multiply and spread, the infection will grow worse, and an abscess will soon develop. As you can see, even a chip can turn into a dental emergency if you don't seek immediate dental treatment.
While tiny chips might not be so bad, if a chip exposes the dentin layer, which is yellow in colour, seek immediate emergency dental treatment. Otherwise, you may end up with a serious dental infection.
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