In dental practice, there are often cases of advanced caries when a patient comes with complaints of acute toothache. If a doctor diagnoses pulpitis, then one of the stages of its treatment will be the installation of a temporary filling. It protects the canal from food and bacteria entering it. It should cover the exposed area of the tooth until treatment is completed by filling the canals and installing a permanent filling. In addition, the “temporary solution” is also relevant for a number of other pathologies.
Normally, the temporary “protection” is removed by the dentist. But there are situations when it falls out on its own. Why? Various factors can provoke this. But no matter what causes the temporary filling to fall out, it is important to know what to do in this situation and how to prevent complications from developing. After all, the consequences can be very unpleasant - from the spread of infection to the loss of a unit.
Signs of a filling falling out soon
How can you tell if a filling has fallen out? This is quite simple - at the place of its installation there is no material with which the filling was made, and there is a hole. Therefore, it is better to prevent such a phenomenon and contact a specialist in advance, even before complete loss.
Determining that the filling does not stay in the tooth and will soon fall out is also quite simple. Gaps appear between the tooth surface and the filling material, which are almost invisible at first, but become larger over time. The material itself becomes loose. This is felt when you press the seal with your tongue. If such phenomena are observed, you should immediately consult a doctor so as not to be annoyed later that the filling has come out.
Necessary actions if a filling falls out
It is important to know what to do if a filling falls out. It is advisable to immediately make an appointment with a dentist, but in some cases it is not possible to urgently visit a doctor. When a filling has come out of a tooth, you can do without it for a short time, but only for a certain time.
If treatment is delayed, the tooth may become infected, leading to acute pain and gradual destruction. It is important to visit a specialist in a timely manner, regardless of whether the filling is permanent or temporary.
But it is better to avoid such a situation and visit the dentist at the stage of loosening. Any gap or even minimal gap between the tooth and the filling is a place for bacteria to enter.
And if you don’t pay attention to such a problem in time, then you shouldn’t be surprised that the filling has fallen out between the teeth.
Most often, such troubles occur with molars. They experience a lot of stress and the filling material can be destroyed if you often eat solid foods. Fillings on the front tooth fall out much less frequently.
Pain after a filling falls out and other unpleasant consequences
Simple recommendations for patients on what to do when a filling falls out and a tooth hurts:
- You need to rinse with a solution of baking soda and salt.
- You can take a painkiller, it could be Ketanov or Analgin.
- During the inflammatory process, the temperature may rise. It must be knocked down after exceeding 38.5° C. For this, antipyretics are used.
- If there is bleeding from a tooth, you should immediately consult a doctor. There can be many reasons for this phenomenon, and it will be possible to accurately determine the possible problem only after an appropriate examination.
You can find many tips on how to numb a tooth at home, but the most effective option is to rinse and take appropriate medications.
When a filling with arsenic falls out, you need to carefully remove the remaining medication with a cotton swab and rinse the tooth cavity with a soda solution.
Is it possible to close a hole in a tooth yourself?
The question often arises as to what can be used to seal a temporarily opened cavity if a filling falls out. People use a wide variety of materials for these purposes - from cotton wool to chewing gum, in general - everything that can be used to fill a hole at home. Under no circumstances should this be done. Before you tape a tooth, you should think about the consequences. The cavity will not be closed hermetically, which means food debris and bacteria will get into it.
Before you think about how to plug a tooth at home, it is worth considering that any material will create extremely favorable conditions for the proliferation of microbes and the occurrence of infection or inflammation. Therefore, the question of how to cover the tooth should not arise. To avoid the accumulation of food debris in the cavity, it should be rinsed regularly at least 6-7 times a day.
Treatment process
People faced with such a problem are interested in how the tooth will be treated when the filling has fallen out. It all depends on individual characteristics, so it is worth considering the most common situations.
If the carious cavity is too large, it makes no sense to fill it again. The material will not hold and will fall out again after a short time. Therefore, the doctor will suggest alternative methods of eliminating the defect, most likely installing a crown.
If repeated caries occurs, pulpitis or other diseases develop, they must first be cured. The doctor prescribes and carries out all the necessary measures and, after complete recovery, places a new filling. If the filling material falls out of a pulpless tooth, re-filling is often also ineffective. In this case, the specialist will recommend installing a pin.
Methods for restoring the integrity of a tooth depend on its condition, so it is difficult to suggest a treatment plan without a preliminary examination.
Are there any contraindications
Before making a filling at home, you must make sure that there is no point in turning to a competent dentist for help. When you can’t make a filling yourself at home:
- It is not possible to eliminate the painful sensations.
- Severely progressive caries requiring root canal filling.
- Small size of the carious cavity.
- Pathological processes developing in soft tissues.
- In case of pulpitis and cysts, independent intervention is contraindicated.
Lost temporary filling
What to do when a temporary filling falls out? It is placed to fix the medicine in the tooth cavity and prevent the entry of saliva, food debris and microbes. Arsenic, which is poisonous, is used as a medicine. Therefore, if such a situation arises, a number of measures need to be taken:
- carefully examine the tooth cavity and determine whether the medicine remains there;
- if it remains, carefully remove it with a cotton swab;
- make a warm soda solution (at the rate of 1 teaspoon of soda per glass of water);
- rinse the tooth cavity thoroughly.
When the canals are sealed, the loss of a temporary filling does not cause significant discomfort, but leaving the tooth as is is prohibited. It can be destroyed under the influence of various factors. For a filling to fail, there must be significant reasons and only a specialist can eliminate them.
If a filling with arsenic falls out immediately after visiting a specialist, you need to make a second appointment as soon as possible and have it restored. If there are several days left until the next scheduled appointment, you don’t have to reschedule it and visit the doctor when it’s scheduled. Only a dentist can tell you how long you can walk without a filling, so it’s a good idea to call and get a consultation.
Why use it - indications for use
Dentists install temporary filling compounds for:
- Advanced caries. If the cavity is very deep, after it has been cleansed of the affected tissue, a medicinal solution is applied to make the layer between the open area of the crown and the dentin as strong as possible.
- Progressive acute pulpitis. Requires depulpation. For this purpose, a medicine is placed into the “hole” that destroys the nerve. It is covered with a protective insulating compound, which will be replaced in the future.
- Periodontitis. With this disease, progressive inflammation in the root area is observed. To stop it, the dentist puts an antiseptic medicine inside the canals. To securely fix it, a hardening gel is placed on top.
- Complicated carious process. Sometimes dentists are faced with a non-standard course of a diagnosed disease. Then, in order to select an effective treatment, they decide to observe the dynamics. In this case, there is no point in installing a permanent element - it will most likely have to be removed soon. Therefore, preference is given to the temporary.
- Manufacturing of dental crowns and bridges. After impressions are taken, it is important to protect the sawn parts of the unit. To do this, use a temporary filling or crown.
Sometimes non-permanent filling is used during the sanitation of dental canals. This is necessary to prevent recurrence of the treated disease. The specialist thoroughly cleans all intradental areas, then applies an antiseptic and closes it on top for a certain period of time. During repeated appointments, he uses permanent hardening mixtures.
Loss of fillings in children
When a child’s filling falls out, you should not ignore the problem, even if the teeth are baby. Caries and other diseases can provoke severe pain and the development of an inflammatory process.
What to do if a temporary filling falls out of a baby tooth:
- Call your doctor, consult and make an appointment as soon as possible.
- Ensure that your child maintains good oral hygiene.
- Rinse your teeth regularly to remove food debris.
Important! Fillings on baby teeth fall out for various reasons, and only a specialist can determine what causes this phenomenon. So, in any case, you cannot do without a visit to the dentist.
How to prevent the development of caries?
The best treatment for any disease is prevention. Therefore, instead of reminding yourself every time how to properly fill your teeth yourself or looking for a good specialist for this, it is better to try to prevent their further destruction. What can be done?
Nutrition. Natural foods should dominate the diet, and various sweets and flour products should be excluded. Particular attention should be paid to products high in fluoride and calcium. The temperature of food consumed should not be too high or low.
Taking proper care of your teeth
Hygiene. Disinfection of the oral cavity should be carried out after every meal. You shouldn’t limit yourself to just toothpaste and a brush, because using dental floss and mouthwash increases your chances of maintaining healthy teeth.
Installing a dental filling yourself at home is a good alternative to going to the dentist. However, it is important to remember that this method is not always possible. It is suitable only for the simplest cases of dental damage.
Filling falling out during pregnancy
When a temporary filling falls out during pregnancy, this is a reason to urgently consult a dentist. Many women worry that treatment may negatively affect the course of pregnancy. Women carrying a child are certainly at risk, but doctors are well aware of the acceptable limits of exposure. If necessary, the doctor will select the optimal method of intervention so as not to harm the body.
You need to treat your teeth anyway. Carious lesions are an ideal environment for the development of pathogens that can cause much more harm to a pregnant woman than the process of restoring a diseased tooth.
If a filling falls out at the end of pregnancy - in the 3rd trimester, the doctor may postpone treatment if serious intervention is necessary to restore the tooth. In most cases, the specialist will make do with minimal temporary treatment, and will carry out complex measures carried out under anesthesia after childbirth.
Application of Acrodent
In addition to the drug mentioned above, the drug Acrodent is also actively used. It is advisable to use it as a permanent filling. For the procedure you will need: a household hair dryer, cotton swabs, Chlorhexidine, a special spatula. The kit includes detailed instructions that describe the entire procedure, which consists of several stages:
- Brushing your teeth with toothpaste.
- Treating a diseased tooth with antiseptic and cotton wool.
- Drying the area.
- Then you need to apply an oxidizing agent and dry the area again.
- To prevent saliva from entering the open cavity, pieces of cotton wool should be used.
- Now a special mixture is being prepared, which will be used as a filling.
- The bottom of the cavity needs to be filled with a small volume of solution.
If the cavity is large, it will require two fillings to completely fill it. Such work is unacceptable for advanced caries and acute toothache.
Destruction of the seal
Has the filling broken? This is evidence of its gradual destruction. This phenomenon can occur for various reasons. The main ones:
- Too much zeal when carrying out hygiene procedures. Frequent use of a hard brush can cause damage to the filling material or enamel.
- Large loads on the tooth. They occur when eating solid foods, seeds, nuts and the like.
- Poor quality filling material.
- Failure of a specialist to comply with the technological process.
What to do if a piece of the filling breaks off and your tooth hurts? This indicates that the material does not adhere tightly to the surface and a gap has arisen between the filling and the tooth. Pain is a consequence of the inflammatory process. If the pathology is not eliminated, it will develop and cause various diseases.
If a filling breaks on a dead tooth, a crown will have to be placed in any case. If a problem arises on a front tooth that is still alive, the doctor will suggest depulping it and then installing a crown as well.
Manufacturing materials
When choosing a composition for temporary closure of a carious cavity, the following are taken into account:
- size of the lesion;
- diagnosis;
- expected duration of treatment;
- the patient is allergic to medications.
Most often, doctors use the following intermediate-acting filling solutions:
- From kaolin and zinc sulfate. The mixture allows you to partially restore dentin - the hard crown part located under the enamel.
- Polycarboxylate. Low-toxic cement used to fix a crown, inlay or dental bridge. Can act as an insulating gasket when installing amalgam and cement elements.
- Karyosan. Zinc oxyeugenol cement, formed by zinc oxide and eugenol. Shows analgesic and antiseptic properties. Used to disinfect canals and relieve inflammation.
- Vinoxol. Includes zinc oxide and a solution of polystyrene in guaiacol. High-quality artificial dentin that can withstand chewing load for one to two months.
- Glass ionomer cement. Suitable if you need to fix dentures for a short period of time.
