My temporary filling has chipped, how soon do I need to go to the dentist?!
Question: 6-8 months ago, I had a temporary filling put in my tooth (waiting on the root canal) and tonight during dinner, a large portion chipped away. There is no pain, and I'm pretty sure its not near the root, but it feels weird! Is it going to keep chipping away? Do I need to go to the dentist soon (like tomorrow)? Or can it wait a few days? I'm still not ready for the root canal, can my dentist still replace it with another temporary filling? And what is involved in the removal? Does it come out easily, and will I need a shot to have it removed and refilled? Any info is greatly appriciated! Thanks
Answers: 6-8 months ago, I had a temporary filling put in my tooth (waiting on the root canal) and tonight during dinner, a large portion chipped away. There is no pain, and I'm pretty sure its not near the root, but it feels weird! Is it going to keep chipping away? Do I need to go to the dentist soon (like tomorrow)? Or can it wait a few days? I'm still not ready for the root canal, can my dentist still replace it with another temporary filling? And what is involved in the removal? Does it come out easily, and will I need a shot to have it removed and refilled? Any info is greatly appriciated! Thanks
It depends on what happened if you need to see the dentist. Assuming that you had a large cavity and during the filling appt your dentist told you, you need a root canal, then i think you'll be fine for a few days. Temporary materials are meant to be 'temporary'. 6-8 months is a bit longer than expected. Usually they're good anywhere from 1-3 months, depending on what type of material.
You probably don't feel any pain b/c the dentist may have done what they called pulpectomy. In simplest of explainations, it's the first half of a root canal, where the nerve of the tooth is taken out. So if you had cavity going close to or in the canal, you won't feel anything.
Replacing a temp is very easy. You will receive novocaine, which the hardest part and that's it. The temporary material, as you know, is crumbley with time and easy to take out. Much easier than drilling on your teeth.
This is very common procedure. 6-8 months is a long, long time, but managable by any dentist.
Don't worry, take some music with you, and relax.
Take care.
ttg
just to be safe you should go to the dentist as quick as you can and the dentist can put another temporary filling just in case you drink or eat something cold or hot you don't wake up a nerve that you thought was sleep rather be safe than hurting.
it was only a temporary filling. you're lucky it lasted as long as it did. get to the dentist as soon as possible to get the tooth filled. obviously there is more to this than just a filling because dentists don't do root canals for fillings.
Let the dentist fill in what fell out with a temp filling. You might have an unstable situation that could cause more damaging breakage. Don't know about needing another shot..
Temporary filling material is usually a putty type substance that becomes hard. It will flake away sometimes in big pieces. If you still can not do the root canal he can either fill back in what came out or redo the temporary. It just depends on how much came out. If you don't have pain, then go in next week sometime. You don't want food to get down to the enamel or the inner layers of the tooth and cause more decay. I'm not sure about your tooth, but sometimes dentists will take out the nerve of the tooth to get rid of any pain and then fill in the canals later. This could be why you don't have pain with this tooth. This is called a Pulpotomy. If this is not the case with your tooth, you are running the risk of infection and pain. Don't wait too long to do the root canal and then the crown. The tooth may be nonvital, which means it has no blood supply and will become brittle. This could cause the tooth to fracture and then be unfixable. At least go in and let the dentist see if the filling needs to be repaired or redone. They may say its ok and to come back to start the final procedure.
you only need to go in to your dentist if the whole thing came out(some temp fillings are designedto chip away) or if you have a sharp edge that is cutting you. otherwise it is okay to wait untill your next dental appointment