Dental Questions: Help- I Broke My Temporary Crown!

Anyone who has had a temporary crown break knows that they tend to come off at the least convenience times. After the initial shock and confusion wears off, you may be wondering what your next step is. Even if the crown falls out in one whole piece, do not try to put it back on the tooth and continue using it.  Although the crown seems small, it poses a serious choking risk particularly when sleeping or chewing. Additionally, don't try to glue the crown back together or recement it. This can result in damaging the underlying tooth structure in a way that ruins the fit of the permanent crown. 

Your best bet for fixing a broken or missing temporary crown is calling our office. If the crown can't be recemented, we will make a new one on the spot. We keep copies of all the temporary impressions we make until the final crown is delivered. This allows us to recreate temporaries on-demand and in short notice. Our office always tries to work these type of appointments in same-day or early the next day! If you have any further questions on the dental crown process, please give us a call or email. 

Dental Quesitons; Why aren't temporary crowns permanent solutions?

A typical temporary crown.

If you've ever had a crown placed in your mouth, you know the typical steps: one appointment to prepare the tooth and another to fit and deliver the final crown. In between, you were given a temporary crown as a placeholder to protect the tooth. Many patients love the look and feel of their temporary crowns and are curious as to why they can't be used as a permanent solution.

There are a few important reasons why we don't use temporary crowns as final restorations. First, they are made of a weaker material. The composites used to make temporary crowns are designed to be easy to cast and manipulate while remaining durable enough for short term use. They are not designed to stand up to years of biting, chewing and grinding. Only a permanent crown made from high strength metal, zirconia or composite can handle this task. Secondly, there is no was to adapt a temporary crown to a tooth as exacting as a lab made permanent restoration. The crown margin (where the crown meets the tooth) needs to be adapted to the tooth on the micron scale to seal out bacteria and prevent tooth decay. This level of precision can only be reached with the tools and techniques of an experienced dental lab.

You may have heard of "same day" crowns that skip the temporary crown step. While this option may sound attractive, our office feels that this technology still needs further improvement before it matches the quality of work we get from our dental labs. We only offer new procedures if we are absolutely sure they are the best options for our patients! If you would like to know more about crown procedures, temporary crowns or any other dental topics, please give our office a call.

Dental Questions: What do I do if I lose a temporary crown

Temporary crowns are not as developed or strong as permanent crowns because they are only intended to function for about two weeks. 

Fortunately, losing a temporary crown is not a dental emergency. We primarily use them as space holders until the permanent restorations are ready. Even in the span of 2 weeks, the adjacent teeth can start to shift into the area created during the crown preparation. A temporary crown maintains space for the permanent crown, along with providing some chewing function and protection for the underlying tooth. If you lose a temporary crown, call our office and we will see you as soon as possible (typically the same afternoon/ following day). Remaking or recementing a temporary crown only takes about 20 minutes and usually does not require any anesthetic. Do not try to recement the crown on your own using drug store temporary dental cements. These products come with a number of risks, including permanently lodging the crown to the tooth or irritating the gums and periodontal space. Your teeth will not move significantly in the one to two days between losing your crown and having it replaced at our office.