If your tooth hurts because the temporary crown fell off, you need to glue it back on immediately so it stops hurting. Ideally, you can get an appointment with your dentist to have them glue it but if you can't then you have to do it yourself at home.
Alternatively you can also find an emergency dentist who can see you the same day.
Table of Contents:
How to glue a temporary crown back on at home
The only thing you need for this method is to purchase some temporary crown glue, which can be found at any local pharmacy.
Rinse temporary crown. Rinse it with cool water to remove any food.
Brush your teeth. Make sure you brush and floss your teeth because lodged food can prevent the temporary from going back on properly.
Try the temporary back in. It may take you a couple of attempts and if it doesn't fit you may need to rotate it a few times for the correct orientation. This step allows you to familiarize yourself with the orientation that the crown is suppose to go back in.
Rinse and dry crown. After you're done trying it in, make sure you rinse the temporary of any residual saliva and dry it. You want the temporary to be clean for the next step.
Place glue in crown. You want to place a THIN layer of temporary cement in the crown. You do NOT want to put too much because the excess glue may prevent the crown from seating properly.
Bite down gentle. You want to bite down gentle a couple of times to make sure that the crown is fully seated. This step also ensures that you have the bite correct.
Clean around temporary. Now take a wet Q-tip and clean the excess glue around the crown as best as you can. If there is no excess then that is less work for you to do.
Wait an hour before eating. Now if everything seems nice and stable, you are all good to go. Just make sure you wait an hour before you eat so that the glue has time to set.
Here is a video of using temporary crown cement in case you prefer visual instructions:
If you manage to glue the temporary back on, you're all set and don't need to do anything else. You just have to wait for your dentist to tell you when your permanent crown is ready for cementation.
Where to purchase
In case you were wondering, here are some common temporary crown cements that you may purchase at your local pharmacies:
The brand of temporary glue kit is unimportant because they're all made of the same material. Just buy whichever one is available to you, they should all get the job done.
What they're made of
This is what they're all made out of, make sure you're not allergic to any of the ingredients:
Zinc Oxide
Eugenol
Zinc Phosphate
Glass Ionomer
Intermediate restorative materials
Calcium Sulfate
Alumninum Phosphate
Petroleum jelly
Paraffin
Why does the tooth hurt without the temporary on?
If your tooth hurts when the temporary crown comes off, it means that the tooth is still alive. In other words, that tooth never had a root canal on it and that is why it is feeling all of that sensitivity. If you had a root canal on the tooth, you wouldn't feel any pain at all even with the temporary off because the tooth no longer has a nerve.
Just to enlighten you, a root canal procedure is when your dentist physically removes the nerve from your tooth. This is done so that the tooth no longer has anymore sensations nor is it able to feel any pain.
If you were wondering why you didn't get a root canal, it is probably because you didn't need it. Only teeth with nerve infections or large cavities that have reached the nerve require a root canal. If you didn't get the procedure done, it most likely means that you were not eligible because you didn't meet those requirements. That is a good thing because you shouldn't do unnecessary dental procedures!
What if I can't glue it back in myself?
If for whatever reason you can't get it to glue back in, you should really try to get an appointment with your dentist the same day. However if you absolutely are unable to do that there is one last resort that you can try, which is to glob the temporary crown cement over the tooth with the missing crown.
What we mean by this technique is to just place the temporary glue over your tooth without the temporary crown since you can't get it back on. The purpose is to just have the tooth covered so that it is no longer sensitive.
How to do this temporary glue glob technique:
Brush your teeth. Make sure you brush and floss your teeth because lodged food can prevent the temporary from going back on properly.
Wash hands. Soap your hands make sure they're clean so that you're not playing around in your mouth with dirty hands!
Roll temporary glue into a ball. Take enough temporary material about the size of a small gumball and roll it into a ball.
Place it on top of tooth. Wet your finger and push it down from the top and then squeeze and adapt it from the cheek side and tongue size.
Bite down. Chomp down on the temporary a few times slowly so that it records the proper bite.
Remove excess material. With a wet finger remove any excess material that may be coming from the sides of the teeth. If the temporary is significantly larger than the front or back tooth next to it, you need to remove some of the excess.
Wait an hour. Do not eat or drink anything for an hour. Give the material time for it to set.
See your dentist ASAP. You need to see your dentist as soon as possible because this is a hail mary emergency technique just to keep you comfortable. The temporary will be shaped very poorly with this technique since you don't know how to shape it properly. It is only meant to buy you enough time to see your dentist!
Takeaway
If your temporary crown fell off and it hurts, you need to reglue it with temporary cement immediately for pain relief. However the best thing to do would be to get an appointment with your dentist so that they can do it properly. Nonetheless, if you're unable to see them you can give these at home methods a try.
Author: Written by Dr David Chen, a general dentist in long island city.
