What Should You Do If An Old Dental Crown Falls Off?
Dental crowns can last for a very long time, but like all things, they can suffer damage and eventually start to degrade as a result. If you have a dental crown that's been with you for as long as you can remember and it's fallen off, then you need to take action to protect your teeth. Here's what you should be doing right now.
Make an Appointment ASAP
First things first: make an appointment with a dentist to have your crown replaced with a new one. This is essential. There is no particular fix to repairing a dental crown at home, and anything that you do to put it back on will only be a temporary measure. In the meantime, the tooth that was covered by the crown is now exposed to all the bacteria and potential trauma of chewing in your mouth, which means that it's more likely to suffer additional damage. If the tooth is allowed to be uncapped for long enough, it could even need a root canal, so you need to get an appointment as soon as possible.
Use Dental Adhesive
In the meantime, you can take steps to put your damaged crown back on and protect your tooth with it. This is also essential to ensuring that your tooth doesn't experience additional damage.
To do this, go to your local drugstore and head to the dental aisle. There you should be able to find a temporary dental adhesive that's designed for mounting crowns back on. Follow the directions on the product and use firm pressure to press the crown back over the tooth. This should help to keep the crown in place, but keep in mind that it's a temporary fix and that the crown may still pop off again before you get to the dentist's office. Be careful not to choke on it or accidentally swallow it if it does come off.
Get Help
When you head to the dentist's office, they'll get started right away to protect your tooth. They'll remove the crown if you've temporarily mounted it again and will examine the tooth.
If the tooth has been damaged or the filling within it has been damaged, your dentist will take steps to repair the damage and to ensure that your tooth stays healthy. This may involve removing the old filling and placing a new one, or putting filling in new areas that have been freshly damaged since the crown fell off.
From there, they'll put a temporary crown over your tooth. A new, permanent one will be ordered that will fit your tooth more appropriately and will match the color and shape of your tooth so that no one notices that you have a crown. It should be ready within days, so you'll head back to the dentist to repeat this process when it is. Contact someone like Gregory S Rutherford, DDS to schedule a consultation.
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