Temporary Crown Fell Out: What to Do Next
Table of Contents
- Why Temporary Crowns Fall Out
- First Steps
- Seeing Your Dentist
- Protect Your Tooth
- References
If your temporary crown falls off, you will need to have it replaced by your dentist.
If it happens on a weekend or at night, you might be able to reattach it yourself until you can get in to see your regular dentist. It is not typically a dental emergency.
Why Do Temporary Crowns Fall Out?
Part of the process of having a crown, or tooth “cap,” placed involves using a temporary crown. This is a kind of placeholder that is positioned on your tooth while your permanent crown is being fabricated at a specialized dental laboratory. It can take a few weeks for your customized crown to be ready, meaning you will be wearing a temporary crown for that long.
Temporary crowns are important, as they protect your tooth and serve as a placeholder in your mouth. They can help you to eat, talk, and function normally. Temporary crowns use temporary cement to hold them in place. Because of this, it is common for them to fall off.
First Steps
The first thing to do when your temporary crown falls off is to stay calm. It is not usually an emergency situation, and it happens all the time.
Be careful not to swallow your crown. Try to catch it when it falls off. You will need to call your dentist for an appointment to have it replaced.
If you cannot get right in to see your dentist, or it is at night or on a weekend, there are some things you can do in the meantime.
First, remove the crown and clean it off.
Rinse out your mouth and carefully clean the area where the crown was.
Check to see if there are any jagged areas that might cut you. This can make the situation more emergent.
Many pharmacies sell a temporary dental cement like Dentemp that you can use to carefully replace the temporary crown until you can get back to your dentist.
Be very careful eating, drinking, and cleaning your teeth until you can get the temporary crown professionally replaced.
Use dental wax to keep the area smooth.
The temporary crown that you receive is made of plastic and shaped to match the grooves of the affected tooth as much as possible, and a temporary adhesive is used to keep it in place until your permanent crown is made at a lab.
Seeing Your Dentist
If your temporary crown falls off, contact your dentist as soon as possible. They will want you to come back in and have the temporary crown recemented right away. If your dentist or orthodontist is unable to see you to reset your temporary crown in a timely fashion, they can often recommend an emergency dentist or other local office that might be able to help you.
Check with other local dentist offices to see if they offer walk-in appointments for reseating temporary crowns. You can also search for nearby walk-in or emergency dentists that do not require appointments to be seen quickly.
Generally, having a temporary crown replaced is not a dental emergency. You can wait a few days to get an appointment, especially if you are able to reset the temporary crown yourself.
Protect Your Tooth
It is important not to just leave your temporary crown off and wait too long for your permanent crown. Leaving it off can damage the remaining tooth underneath and cause your teeth to shift and change shape, which can mean that your permanent crown will no longer fit right.
To keep your temporary crown from falling off again, use the following guidelines:
Brush carefully around the problem tooth and area.
Avoid sticky and hard foods.
Stay away from overly sugary food and drinks.
Do not floss around the temporary crown until you see your dentist, as this can cause it to come loose again.
Try to avoid chewing directly on the temporary crown in the meantime.
It is not a huge deal if a temporary crown falls off. In fact, it is quite common. Try not to panic. Follow the simple tips above and contact your dentist as soon as you can.