Does it hurt to chip your tooth?!

Does it hurt to chip your tooth?

My bf called me and said he chipped one of his canine teeth, but I didn't beleive him because he wasn't in any pain. When my mother chipped one she was in terrible pain and went to the dentist right away, the same happened to a child hood friend. So is it possible to chip a tooth and off handedly throw it into a conversation when it got slow? I didn't belive him and he called me ignorant and I hung up on him, so I'd just like to know, thanks!

I have been a dental assistant for 8 years. The teeth have several layers to them: Enamel (this is the outermost covering which you can see) and Dentin (just under the enamel) pulpal chamber/nerve (innermost portion where the nerve is housed). Chipping the enamel slightly is no bid deal. I have ships on several anterior teeth and have no idea how or when I got them. If the dentin, or worse, the nerve become exposed then it hurts. There are people who chip teeth everyday and don't even know it. There is a difference between a chip (small) and a fracture. Fracturing a whole cusp tip or even half a tooth off sometimes doesn't even hurt.