What Options Does a Dentist Have When Your Fillings Fall Out?
Posted on: 19 October 2015
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One of the common dental emergencies that occur is the loss of dental fillings. This can happen due to trauma to the mouth or normal aging of the filling. Read on and discover what your dentist can do in case such an emergency happened to you.
Restoration of the Filling
The emergency dentist will examine your tooth before deciding which particular restoration filling to use in the place of the one that has fallen out. For instance, he or she can decide to put an amalgam filling if the affected tooth was a molar. This is because the molars do most of the chewing so they need very strong fillings in order to withstand that pressure of grinding food. Amalgam fillings are very strong and that is why the dentist may choose them for those hardworking back teeth. However, he or she will give you several options (such as glass tooth-colored fillings) together with his or her preference for that specific situation so that you participate in making the final option.
Use of a Crown or Cap
Sometimes, you may have lost so much of the affected tooth that the restoration would take up most of the dental structure than the original tooth. In such a case, the dentist may decide to place a dental cap or crown on the tooth. The emergency dentist may initially place a temporary filling on the tooth in order to protect the delicate internal structures while the crown or cap is made. Steps such as taking your dental impression and fabricating a customised crown take time. That is why the emergency visit you make to the dentist may not result in having the crown installed immediately.
Tooth Extraction
An emergency dentist may decide to extract your tooth if the accident in which you lost the filling was so severe that the tooth sustained extensive damage. The dentist will only make this decision once no option to save the tooth can work in your case. The extraction will be followed by a plan to replace the tooth with an artificial one.
It is very important that you see a dentist as soon as you lose your dental filling. This will prevent additional problems, such as the development of dental infections. Prompt action will also increase the likelihood of saving your damaged tooth. In case there is no emergency dentist near you, go to the emergency department of a hospital near you so that you receive the urgent dental care that you need.