Dentistry tends to use overlapping definitions. For example, when a tooth has deteriorated to the point that a mere filling won't be sufficient to maintain its strength, it will be reinforced with a dental crown—a shell made of porcelain, metal, or acrylic fitted over the tooth. The visible portion of a natural tooth (the section above the gum line) is also referred to as a crown. And finally, when you receive a dental implant, the prosthetic tooth attached to the implanted section is also called a crown. The crown you receive as part of your dental implant is extremely strong, but accidents happen. What should you do if you chip the crown attached to your dental implant?

All Porcelain Implants

The crowns attached to dental implants are typically entirely porcelain, and they differ from a crown fitted to a damaged tooth, which is only the outermost layer of the tooth—with the natural tooth remaining intact inside its protective casing. This means that repairing a chip to a dental implant's crown is different from when a protective dental crown is chipped.

A Solid, Inanimate Object

Despite the fact that a crown attached to a dental implant is a solid, inanimate object with no living tissues, a chip in the surface of the crown must be assessed by your dentist. They'll need to know just how the chip occurred. If it was due to blunt force trauma (physical impact), your dentist must be sure that the implant itself has not been damaged, and has not lost its integration with the underlying bone. Diagnostic testing (X-ray or radiography) may be needed to confirm this. This type of damage often means the implant must be removed and replaced. Provided the implant itself is intact, your dentist can get started repairing the crown.

Restoring the Chipped Crown

The nature of the repair will depend on the nature of the chip. Small chips may only need to be smoothed out, removing any jagged edges that may lacerate the soft tissues inside your mouth. Larger chips that have caused a fragment of the crown to detach are another matter. If you happened to retain the chip (please do so if possible), it can be cemented back into place. However, it's not a major task for a dentist to rebuild missing fragments using a composite dental resin (the same material a dentist would use to fill a cavity).

A chipped dental crown generally isn't a major concern but if you have questions about your dental implants, be sure to reach out to a local dentist.