Dental Emergency – Broken Filling

Article contributed by:

Parkway Dental Practice

 
We are all probably familiar with the concept of the forbidden fruit.  The more we are told not to do something, the more satisfying it feels to get away with doing the exact opposite.  Been told by your dentist not to bite on excessively hard food or refrain from opening beer bottles with your teeth?  Off we’ll go planning a weekend crab feast, and what better to wash that down with than ice cold beer!  Only do you realise at the end of the night that you might have swallowed a little something “extra” along with your meal and by the time you call for a dental appointment, you can almost picture your dentist saying ‘I told you so’.
 
Dislodged dental crowns, broken filling and occasionally part of a tooth will often result in some level of discomfort and inconvenience.  This can range from slight irritation of the tongue, lip or gums from the jagged edges of a chipped area, to pain and sensitivity from the cavity that is left exposed by the dislodged restoration, to having your confidence nipped, especially if the affected area is in the smile zone.
 
Temporary dental cement kits, which are readily available in some pharmacies, can be used as temporary remedies.  If a dislodged or broken filling has left a gaping hole, allowing bits of your meal and bacteria to be trapped, it can be quite uncomfortable and unhygienic.  These temporary dental cements can be used to seal off the areas causing food trap by mixing, rolling into the shape of a ball and placing in the area where the filling has dislodged.  The same cement can also be used to temporarily hold your dislodged crown in place. These cements are fairly easy to handle and any excess can be easily removed, after the cement has hardened, by using either a toothbrush or floss.
 

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Article contributed by:

Parkway Dental Practice

Dated: December 2014

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