Is A Lost Tooth Dental Filling an Emergency?
Dental damage can result from dental trauma, bacteria attacks, and bruxism. Typically, early treatment significantly improves your chances of saving your tooth. Dental fillings are some of the best restorative treatments for dental damage. Fillings are artificial materials placed inside a tooth to repair damage from cavities and decay. The filling can be made from gold, silver amalgam, ceramic, glass ionomer, and composite resin.
Good oral hygiene, habits, and routine professional checkups will maintain your fillings in perfect condition for longer. Due to several reasons, your filling can develop flaws. Most patients are confused about what to do in case. So, should you seek emergency treatment for a lost filling or not?
Generally, if the lost fillings don’t result in any severe discomfort or complications like infections, you don’t need to wake your dentist. You can wait until the dental office opens to receive treatment. However, you should seek emergency treatment if a lost filling is accompanied by severe discomfort and complications like pain, fever, and swelling. Visit our dental office in Westport, CT, for dental filling treatment.
Causes of Lost Dental Fillings
You can lose your filling for many reasons. In most cases, losing a filling is associated with severe tooth decay. The filling can lose the tight fit if a significant tooth structure is damaged, eventually falling out. Similarly, dental injuries from biting a hard item, sports accidents, or bruxism can loosen or knock out a dental filling. Damaging habits like chewing pens, ice, nails, and nuts affect the health of your filling.
Dental Filling: Dental Emergency or Not?
If you lose a filling, it shouldn’t prompt you to seek emergency dental care. It can cause minor discomfort, especially chewing and biting. It would be best to wait until regular office hours to seek treatment.
Still, do not delay treatment; see your dentist as soon as possible. Failing to replace a lost filling on time can expose your tooth to further discomfort and damage. In the meantime, adopt a soft diet and avoid hard, chewy hot, cold, or acidic items as they can cause worsen your sensitivity.
When is a Lost Dental Filling Emergency?
Not all cases of lost filling can wait for treatment. Sometimes a lost filling can be accompanied by severe and life-threatening symptoms. In such a case, emergency treatment is necessary. Signs that should prompt you to seek emergency dental care after losing a filling include:
- Infection
- Severe and persistent pain, especially pain that won’t respond to painkillers
- Fever
- Swelling in the face or jaw around the affected area
- Trouble moving your jaw or opening your mouth
- Extreme sensitivity
Lost Dental Filling: What to Do
After a dental filling:
- Schedule an appointment with your dentist.
- Rinse the filling carefully and store it in a safe place. The dentist can try to place it back.
- Chew on the other side of the mouth.
Once you get to the dental office, the dentist near you will examine the tooth and repair the site. The dentist may clean the tooth before placing a new dental filling to prevent re-infection. As for the discomfort, you can use over-the-counter pain medications like ibuprofen.
How to Maintain a Healthy Dental Filling
- Brush and floss regularly and gently.
- Eat healthier and hydrate well.
- Avoid hard, sticky, and crunchy foods as they can loosen or knock out the filling.
- Wear a mouthguard for bruxism or sports.
- Schedule frequent dental assessments and cleanings.
- Avoid abrasive oral products.
- Avoid sugary and acidic items.
Schedule an Appointment Today
Have you lost a filling and need an emergency dentist in Westport, CT? Contact Advanced Dental of Westport for more information.