Chipped a tooth? Repair it so no one can tell.

Why a chip is more than cosmetic

Enamel is the hardest material in your body, but it has no ability to heal. Once a chip opens the surface, three things start working against the tooth. The edge is weaker than it was, so the chip tends to grow with normal chewing. The exposed surface is more porous than enamel, so it stains faster and can become sensitive. And a chip that started as a crack can travel deeper over months, sometimes reaching the nerve or splitting below the gum line, where the repair becomes far more involved.

This is why the timing advice is simple. You do not need to panic over a small chip, but you should not sit on it for a year either. A quick exam tells you exactly what you are dealing with. Sometimes the answer is a five-minute polish of a rough edge. Sometimes an X-ray reveals a crack that needs covering before it spreads. Either way, you stop guessing.

How Dr. Mercado decides between bonding, a veneer, or a crown

The right repair depends on how much tooth was lost, where the tooth sits in your smile, and what is underneath the chip.

Bonding suits small to medium chips on teeth that are otherwise healthy. The resin is layered and sculpted directly on the tooth in one visit, then polished to match the surrounding enamel. Done well, bonding is seamless. Its trade-off is longevity. Resin can stain and wear over years, so it may need refreshing down the line.

A porcelain veneer makes sense when the chip is on a front tooth and you care about the finish, or when the tooth already had things you wanted to change, like shade or shape. Porcelain keeps its color, holds a polish, and is custom made by a laboratory to match the translucency of real enamel. Many patients use the moment of a chip as the reason to finally refine the tooth they were never quite happy with.

A crown is the answer when the tooth has lost too much structure for a surface repair, or when a crack threatens the strength of the whole tooth. A crown wraps the tooth completely, holding it together under chewing force. On front teeth, modern all-porcelain crowns are shaded and layered so they read as natural teeth, not dental work.

If the chip exposed the nerve, a root canal may be needed before the tooth is restored. And if a tooth is truly broken beyond saving, we will tell you honestly and walk through replacement options rather than patching something that will fail.

What your visit looks like

Call (916) 448-5458 or use the contact form. If the tooth is painful, say so, because same-day appointments are held for urgent cases. At the visit, Dr. Mercado examines the tooth, takes an X-ray if a deeper crack is suspected, and shows you what he sees with intraoral photos. You get a clear recommendation, the reasoning behind it, and the cost before anything starts.

Most bonding repairs are completed on the spot. Veneer and crown repairs take two visits about two weeks apart, with a temporary protecting the tooth in between. The studio is at 1029 56th Street in East Sacramento with free off-street parking, open Monday through Thursday 7AM to 4PM and Friday 8AM to noon, so early repairs before work are easy to schedule.

A note on chips that keep happening

If this is your second or third chip, the chips are a symptom, not the problem. Repeated chipping usually points to night grinding, a bite that loads a few teeth unevenly, or brittle older restorations. Repairing the chip without addressing the cause means booking the same appointment again next year. Dr. Mercado screens for wear patterns during the exam, and if grinding is the culprit, a custom nightguard protects the repair and every other tooth while you sleep.