Help! My Temporary Crown Fell Off!

Temporary dental crowns are the crowns that you wear while the dental laboratory is making your final, perfect dental crown. These are necessary only as a hold over, so that you are not toothless in the interim period between the time you lost a tooth or part of it, and the time you get your dental crown. This is usually about a week, but certain circumstances (holidays, illness, scheduling, locational problems, problems with the final crown that require more time to fix etc.) may extend this period of time. Temporary dental crowns fall off because they are not meant to last for a long period of time, but only a short one, and when they do, the best thing to do is to call the dentist to get another one.

What is it?

Temporary crowns are prefabricated dental crowns. They are made of plastic or composite materials or even metal, depending on how long they will be in the mouth. They are adhered to the teeth using much weaker bonding agents than regular crowns, because they will be removed shortly after being put on, once the final dental crown is done.

Why do temporary crowns fall off?

They may fall off because the bonding agent is too weak and your saliva has dissolved it, or because the temporary crown has become dislodged because of eating hard food or a possible trauma to the mouth. If you poke it too often with your tongue, that can also loosen and eventually dislodge the temporary crown. Temporary crowns fall off frequently, and this does not necessary reflect on the skill of the dentist. If you smoke or drink alcohol, or grind your teeth at night, or have very little tooth stub left underneath the temporary crown, you are more susceptible to the temporary crown falling off.

What you SHOULDN’T do

The most important thing to do when your temporary crown falls off is to keep the area clean, and book an appointment to get it reattached as soon as possible. Do NOT try and reattach it yourself! Some patients use super glue and other such materials to reattach the temporary crown, but this is extremely dangerous, as most glue is unfit for human consumption, even in small quantities. Try and place it back on, and if it does not stick, save it, clean it, and take it to your dentist. The dentist will reattach it or a similar one until your final dental crown is finished.