What to Do: 5 Steps to Take If You Lose a Dental Crown

When you got your dental crown several years ago, you may have thought about it as a permanent restoration. Then, while eating something hard, you feel your crown come off the tooth! Your mind and pulse start racing, and you realize that your smile is incomplete now.

What should you do? How can you get your whole, confident smile back? Here is your quick guide to handle the situation and come out of it with your beautiful smile intact.

Don’t Panic

Although having a crown come out can be alarming, unexpected, or even painful (depending on the circumstances), try to stay calm. Make sure you think through the next few steps you should take to preserve your tooth. Rash decisions and actions will only put your tooth at risk for infection or additional damage. So, take a deep breath and try to remember what you should do.

Call Your Dentist

When you have an emergency, you may be tempted to go to the emergency room, but in the case of losing a dental crown, your dentist is the only one who has the training and instruments to fix the problem.

Calling them immediately afterward allows you to get the next available appointment slot. Plus, they can give you advice for your specific situation. As a result, the issue can be resolved as quickly as possible.

Find and Clean the Crown

After making the call to your dentist, try to locate the crown and rinse it off with clean water. It could have touched dirt and who knows what else after it left your mouth! Usually just a rinse is sufficient, however.

If you don’t know where the crown is, because you swallowed it or lost it another way, don’t worry about it too much. Your tooth can be fixed with a replacement crown.

Cover the Tooth

When a crown comes out, the tooth underneath is exposed to oral bacteria and is weaker, potentially increasing the risk of more damage, which means it needs to be covered somehow. If you have the crown, put a small dab of toothpaste on the restoration before placing it over the tooth. In the case of a totally lost crown, you can protect the vulnerable tooth with sugar-free gum.

Understand Your Possible Treatment

Although dental crowns are designed to last for many years, their lifespan is still limited. If you have had a crown for a long time, it could be worn or damaged from everyday use, which means you’ll need a new one. If your crown is still in good condition, your dentist may simply reattach it.

You can’t always predict this kind of dental emergency, but knowing what to do in advance can give you peace of mind if it happens to you.

About the Practice

Amherst Dental Group offers completely metal-free dental crowns and utilizes some of the best technology in the field. For impressions, we use a digital scanner to measure your mouth and collect the information we need to fabricate your custom crown comfortably. In many cases, same-day appointments are available for dental emergencies like losing a crown. If you lose a crown, give our Williamsville office a call at 716-689-8882 or go online here.