Chip Led to Broken Filling on Top Front Tooth... Dentist Gave Three Me Options...

[ChippedToothFairy]

Last year I chipped a small part of my front top tooth on a fork... I was eating dinner quickly before going to the hospital. Bummer. I went to my dentist and they recommended a filling or shaving the tooth. I thought a filling sounded great.

What I didn't know (and what no one told me) was that they would be shaving/drilling down part of the tooth to make room for the filling. Fast forward 7 months and the filling just fell out. Now I'm left with worse tooth damage than I had before.

Photo attached at bottom of post!

The dentist gave me three options:

1. Put a filling back in
2. Get a veneer on that tooth
3. Shave down/smooth out the tooth
4. (I added this one) do nothing

I really don't want to lose more of the tooth since it's a healthy tooth otherwise. I use a bite guard at night, not sure if that's factor.

What's my best option? If I do nothing is that bad for the strength of the tooth? Thanks so much for reading, this has been stressing me out and I'm just angry at the whole situation.

No smoking, occasional drinks, no medical history.

 

[MattKW]

1. Do nothing
2. Reattach filling, a simple etch/bond/filling
3. Smooth off, but only just enough to take off rough edges on the lip side (labial) of the tooth. Do not take away vertical height or it will look even worse.
4. Do not veneer - too destructive

Why are you using a bite guard? Is it custom made by a dentist or an internet one-size-fits-all type?