Lost Filling or Crown

You may be eating or biting on something hard when you discover your filling or a crown has become loose or fallen out. You may feel the filling or crown in your mouth. This is rarely an emergency, but it can be painful because the tooth tissue is often sensitive to pressure, air, or hot and cold temperatures. In some cases, a filling or crown may come loose because decay has developed underneath it. The decay can cause the tooth to change shape and as a result, the crown or filling no longer fits properly.

If the tooth is sensitive and you can’t get to your dentist right away, here is what you can do:

• If you can reach the sensitive area, apply a little clove oil with a swab. It works well to dull tooth pain. You can buy clove oil in a pharmacy and also in the spice aisle of many supermarkets.
• If you have the crown, you may be able to slip it back over the tooth. Before you do that, it’s important to clean the inside of the crown as well as you can. To hold it in place temporarily, coat the inner surface of the crown with tooth “cement” which you can buy in the pharmacy.

You should never use any household glues to hold the crown on the tooth. These products are not safe to put in your mouth and can damage your tooth and crown.

Call  Urgent Dental Care  at 314-423-0000 for an appointment.