When a Dental Crown Becomes Detached – Advice from a Birmingham Emergency Dentist

What you should, and most certainly should not, do.

The use of a dental crown to strengthen a tooth is a common procedure and one that has proved successful for many years.  Usually fitted when a natural tooth has become weakened and perhaps broken beyond the point where it could be repaired with a simple filling or composite build up, crowns have proved very useful in restoring both appearance and function of patient’s teeth.

In addition to their use for dental repairs, crowns are also used to add the finishing touches to a dental implant. Whilst the implant itself provides the strong root, the crown provides the functionality and aesthetic aspect of the procedure.

Whilst crowns used in dental implant procedures rarely become detached; in cases where a dental crown has been fitted onto a prepared natural tooth, this can occur from time to time.

Why do crowns detach?

Accidents such as those that might be incurred during sport are one of the most common reasons for a crown suddenly becoming detached. In cases such as this, you should ensure that you recover the crown immediately to prevent any damage to it.

Biting on an unexpected hard piece of food may also cause the crown to come off although this is unlikely to happen in relatively recently fitted crowns.

The older a crown is too, the more likelihood there is of the dental cement being less effective at holding the crown in place.

What to do

First of all, you should ensure that the crown is kept somewhere safe where it will not be damaged. You should then call our local Birmingham dental surgery on 0121 323 4492 and we will do our best to see you as soon as possible to restore the crown.

If you are experiencing pain or discomfort due to the loss of the crown; in most cases an over the counter painkiller such as paracetamol should be all that is needed.

If you are away from home when this happens, and it may be a few days before you can visit Arthur House Dental Care, there are dental repair kits which are available as a temporary measure. These use the same, or similar, dental cement that is used in dental practices and should hold your crown in place until such time that we are able to professionally repair it for you. It is strongly advised that these kits are not seen as a permanent solution though as, if ill fitted, could allow the tooth to become damaged through decay or an incorrect bite.

What you shouldn’t do

Please, do not, under any circumstances, use superglue or anything other than the temporary repair kits to put the crown back on the tooth. As well as possibly containing chemicals which could damage both the crown and your tooth, the glue would create major problems in removing it to repair it correctly and may well lead to the loss of the tooth in some cases.

Hopefully these tips will help you if you find yourself in this situation. If your crown not only becomes detached but broken too, perhaps as may happen in certain accidents, we have the use of Cerec technology at our Birmingham dentists which will speed up the repair process without the need for additional visits.