Emergency Dental Repairs: Fixing Your Dental Crown Until You Can Visit A Dentist
In the event that one of your dental crowns falls off, your underlying tooth will be left exposed and even the slightest variation in temperature or pressure can result in excruciating pain. Thankfully, these crowns can be easily reattached or replaced in a single visit to your dentist. The problem is, what do you do when you can't get to your dentist or the dentist can't see you right away? For instance, if your crown falls off while you are away on vacation, cutting your trip short to go visit a dentist won't be a very realistic solution. However, neither is spending the remainder of your trip in pain.
The good news is, you can avoid both of these extremes by performing your own emergency dental repair until you are able to visit a dentist. Below you will learn how to complete this repair step by step.
Gather Your Materials
Before you can begin the process of reattaching your dental crown, you will need to collect a few supplies. These supplies include:
- clean cup
- warm water (room temperature is good)
- table salt
- small dish or mixing bowl
- baking soda
- petroleum jelly
- cotton swabs
Clean Away Plaque And Bacteria
Before you reattach your crown, you will want to ensure that both your crown and the underlying tooth are free of plaque, bacteria, and debris. In order to accomplish this goal, begin by rinsing your crown under warm water. Be sure to rinse both the inside and outside of the crown in order to ensure no food particles or other debris is lodged inside the tooth. Next, rinse your mouth with a salt water solution that is made up of one cup warm water and approximately one teaspoon of table salt.
Reattach Your Crown
Begin by placing approximately a teaspoon of petroleum jelly in your mixing bowl or plate. Next, begin adding small amounts of baking soda to the jelly and mixing until the mixture forms a thick paste. Using a cotton swab, fill your crown with this homemade adhesive. Position the crown over your tooth and then bite down softly until the crown is fully seated on the tooth.
If any adhesive oozes out from under the crown, don't worry—this is completely normal. While the adhesive will taste quite bad, it is completely nontoxic and will not harm you in any way. Just use a wet cotton swab to wipe this excess adhesive away before it hardens in order to prevent any left over residue on the outside of your crown or surrounding teeth.
Don't Forget About The Dentist
While this emergency repair will keep your crown in place for several days or even a few weeks, this repair is not meant to be permanent. Therefore, you will still need to make an appointment with a dentist like Ellen Bollmeier, DMD, LLC as soon as possible.