When we slightly damage our teeth, we need it sorted out. The process in which to restore the tooth is called ‘filling’ The replacement itself is also called a filling. It is called a filling due to the fact it ‘fills’ the gap between the breakage and where the remainder of the tooth used to be. A slightly damaged tooth is called a ‘chipped tooth’, due to the fact the tooth looks as if it has a small chip taken out of it. Filling a tooth is a simple and quick process at the dentists, although the filling may not be permanent.