
First, I would have to look at the bite and determine why it is that they chipped. Once I determine why it is that they chipped, then if that is a matter of a para-functional habit that you might have at night, meaning maybe you’re grinding aggressively, then that would be what we need to address, ultimately.
Now to restore the chipped teeth, it might require some simple bonding with fillings. It might require veneers and it also might require full-coverage crowns. It really depends on the condition or the particular case of what’s going on with that particular patient. Once those bonding, veneers, or crowns are placed, if I did determine that the fractures had been caused from grinding, then we would have to fit the patient for a night-guard after the restorations were placed.
If it was some sort of habit that they might have had, like biting their fingernails or chewing on pens, and that was the cause for the fractures on the teeth, then that’s a different story. That kind of falls on the patient’s shoulders, and you educate the patient as far as how it has affected their teeth.
If they’ve lost height in their teeth, in their two front teeth or their two bottom teeth, but they’ve sort of worn or chipped away the very tops of those teeth, then the approach would be to use a crown in that particular case.