Want to know the exact wrong way to pry open a stubborn lid? Just ask Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC-TV\u2019s popular \u201cTonight Show.\u201d When the 40-year-old funnyman had trouble opening a tube of scar tissue repair gel with his hands, he decided to try using his teeth.<\/p>\n
What happened next wasn\u2019t funny: Attempting to remove the cap, Fallon chipped his front tooth, adding another medical problem to the serious finger injury he suffered a few weeks before (the same wound he was trying to take care of with the gel). If there\u2019s a moral to this story, it might be this: Use the right tool for the job\u2026 and that tool isn\u2019t <\/em>your teeth!<\/p>\n Yet Fallon is hardly alone in his dilemma. According to the American Association of Endodontists, chipped teeth account for the majority of dental injuries. Fortunately, modern dentistry offers a number of great ways to restore damaged teeth. <\/p>\n If the chip is relatively small, it\u2019s often possible to fix it with cosmetic bonding. In this procedure, tough, natural-looking resin is used to fill in the part of the tooth that has been lost. Built up layer by layer, the composite resin is cured with a special light until it\u2019s hard, shiny\u2026 and difficult to tell from your natural teeth. Best of all, cosmetic bonding can often be done in one office visit, with little or no discomfort. It can last for up to ten years, so it\u2019s great for kids who may be getting more permanent repairs later.<\/p>\n For larger chips or cracks, veneers or crowns may be suggested. Veneers are wafer-thin porcelain coverings that go over the entire front surface of one or more teeth. They can be used to repair minor to moderate defects, such as chips, discolorations, or spacing irregularities. They can also give you the \u201cHollywood white\u201d smile you\u2019ve seen on many celebrities.<\/p>\n Veneers are generally custom-made in a lab, and require more than one office visit. Because a small amount of tooth structure must be removed in order to put them in place, veneers are considered an irreversible treatment. But durable and long-lasting veneers are the restorations of choice for many people.<\/p>\n Crowns (also called caps) are used when even more of the tooth structure is missing. They can replace the entire visible part of the tooth, as long as the tooth\u2019s roots remain viable. Crowns, like veneers, are custom-fabricated to match your teeth in size, shape and color; they are generally made in a dental lab and require more than one office visit. However, teeth restored with crowns function well, look natural, and can last for many years.<\/p>\n So what happened to Jimmy Fallon? We aren\u2019t sure which restoration he received\u2026 but we do know that he was back on TV the same night, flashing a big smile.<\/p>\n If you would like more information about tooth restorations, please contact us<\/a> or schedule a consultation<\/a>. You can learn more in the Dear Doctor<\/em> magazine articles \u201cPorcelain Crowns & Veneers<\/a>\u201d and \u201cArtistic Repair Of Front Teeth With Composite Resin<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Want to know the exact wrong way to pry open a stubborn lid? Just ask Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC-TV\u2019s popular \u201cTonight Show.\u201d When the 40-year-old funnyman had trouble opening a tube of scar tissue repair gel with his hands, he decided to try using his teeth. What happened next wasn\u2019t funny: Attempting to remove … Continue Reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[2,17,18],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":594,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions\/594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}