What to Do If You Break a Crown

What to Do If You Break a Crown

A facial trauma can have serious implications for your oral health, so you should see your dentist and get checked out as soon as you can. Whether it’s a prosthetic or your natural tooth, a broken crown can be painful and even get worse over time. Here is a quick look at what you should do if you break one of yours.
Assess the Injury
Breaking a crown puts you in a tricky situation, because you must push through the pain to accurately assess the damage and decide how to respond. If your crown breaks into several pieces, you’ll want to look for any sharp or jagged edges that could hurt your tongue or cheeks. If the entire crown is loose, you might want to pull it out, so you don’t accidentally choke on it. Sometimes a broken crown can cause severe pain, so take a moment to consider how much pain or discomfort you’re in, and call your dentist if you deem it to be an emergency.
Protect Your Face
Additional trauma can exacerbate an already painful situation, so be extra careful to protect your mouth area if you’ve broken a crown. You should also take preventative safety measures if you know you’re going to be in a potentially dangerous situation, like wearing a mouth guard when you play sports.
See Your Dentist
If you break a natural tooth, you can fix the problem with a prosthetic dental crown. If it was a prosthetic that broke, your dentist will likely create a new one for you. You should always see your dentist as soon as you can after suffering from any kind of oral health issue.
Time is of the essence when you’re in pain, so call John Carson, DDS at (520) 514-7203. Dental crowns in Tucson are one of our specialties, and you can learn about all the procedures we offer by browsing through our website. If you break a crown, we may be able to replace it in one day with CEREC technology.