Losing your dental crown isn’t an emergency. However, you’ll still need to schedule an appointment with our office to replace it.
Replacing crowns is a relatively easy process at Precision Family Dental. Unlike other dentists, ours use CEREC same-day crowns to plan and place your new dental crown in a single appointment.
But what should you be doing in the meantime until your appointment? Let’s take a look at some common questions we hear when someone loses a dental crown.
Do I Need Emergency Dental Care?
Typically, no. The only time you’d need to call our emergency dentists for a broken crown is if the jagged edges are sharp. In this situation, you may need emergency dental care so you don’t cut your tongue or cheeks by accident.
I Think I Swallowed My Crown. What Should I Do?
Call a medical doctor immediately if you think you may have swallowed your crown by accident.
Actually swallowing your crown isn’t that dangerous, but there’s a chance you could have aspirated it (breathed it in) instead. In that case, your dental crown would be in your lungs, which is extremely dangerous. A medical doctor can take X-rays to see where your dental crown went. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
If it turns out you did just swallow it, it should pass in a few days. Dental crowns are small and smooth, which makes it easy for them to pass through the digestive tract.
What Should I Do While I Wait for My Appointment?
Make sure you call our office to schedule your appointment in the first place. When we hear you’ve lost your dental crown, we’ll make sure to schedule you as soon as possible, although that may be several days from now.
In the meantime, there are a few things you can do while you wait for your appointment.
Protect Your Tooth and Crown
First, you’ll need to protect both your dental crown and your tooth. If your crown is still intact, you can buy some from the drugstore. Simply clean the inside of your dental crown, apply the cement to your actual tooth, and place the crown on top. Hold the dental crown in place until the cement dries.
If your dental crown isn’t intact, we still recommend keeping it so you can show it to our dental crown dentist. Our dentists may be able to use your dental crown if it’s still in good condition. To protect your tooth in the meantime, you can use to mold over your tooth. You’ll want to use the same dental wax that’s used to push errant wire braces back into place. Most drugstores sell dental wax.
Manage Your Pain
Next, it’s fair to say you may be experiencing some pain or discomfort after you lose your dental crown. Feel free to use over-the-counter pain relievers until your appointment.
Eat Safely
Finally, you may be wondering how you’re supposed to eat while you wait for your appointment with our dentists. As long as you’ve protected your tooth with your crown and dental cement or with dental wax, you should be able to eat.
However, you’ll need to stay away from foods that are hard to chew or sticky. Otherwise, you could pull your crown off again by accident or damage your tooth. It’s also best if you chew on the side that’s opposite of your dental crown.
What Can I Expect at My Appointment?
If your dental crown is intact, our dentists may be able to place it back on your tooth. Otherwise, we may need to make a new tooth crown.
Dr. Piotrowski and Dr. Cohen can use CEREC same-day crowns to make your permanent crown during your appointment. Otherwise, they’ll can take impressions of your teeth to send to a lab and place a temporary crown over your tooth. Then, they can place your permanent crown during your second appointment.
Replace Your Dental Crown Fast
If you’ve lost your dental crown, don’t panic. You can schedule an appointment with our Grand Rapids, MI, restorative dentists to replace your crown as soon as possible. Call Precision Family Dental today at (616) 949-1570, or contact us online to request an appointment.
This blog post has been updated.