Recognizing The Benefits of Dental Implants

If you have a temporary dental crown on a tooth after a root canal and it falls off before you have a permanent crown installed, here is what you need to do.

Rinse Off The Crown

If you feel the crown fall out, spit it out of your mouth. You are going to want to first rinse off the crown. However, you should not rinse off the crown over an open sink. You could easily drop the crown and loose it down your drain.

Place your crown inside of a bowl, and use a glass of water to rinse it off. That way, you'll be able to clean the crown off without risking losing it.

Place The Crown In A Secure Location

After you rinse off the crown, you'll want to place the crown somewhere safe. A good location for your crown would be a zip lock bag or a container with a lid.

Call Your Emergency Dentist

Next, call up your local emergency dentist and try to get an appointment to come in that day. Let the dentist know that the crown that fell out was a temporary crown and that you just had a root canal. This is very important information. Your root canal could become compromised with food and debris without a crown in place. It could easily become infected without a crown in place to protect it. In order to protect the root canal and allow it to heal, it needs to be sanitary.

Don't Eat Or Drink

You should try your best to not eat or drink anything between the time your crown falls out and the time your appointment is with your emergency dentist. If you eat or drink during this time period, food particles could get stuck to the exposed tooth, attracting bacteria and leading to infection in the root canal site. Your root canal is still healing and could easily become infected.

If you do have to eat or drink for medical reasons in between the time your crown falls out and the time it is put back in place, you need to take a few precautions. Try to chew on the other side of your mouth, away from where your root canal was performed, as much as possible. Once you are done eating, rinse your mouth out with water to remove any food particles. Then, brush your teeth and rinse your mouth out with some mouthwash. This should prevent debris from getting into the cavity in your tooth.

It should be relatively easy for your emergency dentist to fix your temporary crown. They will use a specialized glue to hold your crown in place. In order to prevent it from falling out again before your permanent crown is made and put in place, try to eat as much as you can on the other side of your mouth and avoid eating any tough, crunchy or hard-to-chew foods.

For more information on how to care for your mouth after a root canal, or if you have an emergency, contact a clinic like Louisville Family Dental.