Dear Dr Rotar,
a piece of the crown of my upper first molar chipped off on the outer side. It does not hurt, the filling is still in place, and I pressed the broken piece (two cusps joined together, broken halfway toward the gum margin) back into its original position. Can the piece of tooth be bonded back? Or does that make sense? These are permanent adult teeth. What else could be done? It happened on Sunday afternoon :(
What actually worries me more is what is happening to my teeth. About two years ago the pulp of one tooth died (caries under a filling). Less than a year ago, caries developed under a filling in another tooth; we tried partial pulp removal, and for now it is fine. Now this piece has broken off. On some teeth I have a veneer-like layer made with flowable porcelain near the margin for aesthetic reasons, because demineralisation occurred there (like a tiny channel along the gum line).
I have already asked my dentist whether perhaps I should replace the fillings because they may be too old. (All my fillings are white, and the oldest is about 10 years old.) I did not get a definite answer because the panoramic X-ray looked completely fine. I would rather go through replacing the fillings than have things like this keep happening. Would it be a good idea to consider replacing the fillings?