A chipped front tooth has three sensible answers, and the profession’s default has shifted considerably toward the most conservative one over the past two decades.
Composite bonding
Repair with tooth-coloured resin, built up and shaped directly. Usually one appointment, no anaesthetic, no tooth removal, and repairable if it chips again.
It will stain slightly at the margins over years and may need repolishing or replacement in five to eight. That is a genuine limitation, and it is also entirely reversible, which the others are not.
Veneer
A ceramic facing over the visible surface. Better colour stability, better resistance to staining, and generally a longer service life. Requires removing a small amount of enamel in most cases.
Appropriate when the chip is large, when the tooth also needs colour or shape changes, or when previous bonding has repeatedly failed.
Crown
Full coverage. Appropriate only where there is substantial loss of structure, where the tooth has had a root canal and is structurally weakened, or where existing restorations occupy most of the tooth.
For a chip on an otherwise sound front tooth, a crown removes far more tooth than the problem justifies. This was once the routine answer and should no longer be.
How to choose
Start with the least invasive option that can deliver an acceptable result, and escalate only if it cannot. In a younger patient especially, bonding first preserves every future option.
The question worth asking any clinician proposing a crown for a chip is what would happen if we bonded it instead.
The correct answer is usually the smallest one that works. A chip that could have been bonded and was crowned instead is structure you do not get back.
For an individual assessment of your case, you can request a consultation at our Bogotá practice.
