Enjoying Better Dental Checkups

What To Do If You Lose A Dental Crown While At The Beach This Summer

If you are vacationing on the beach this summer and lose dental crowns while chewing on some hard or sticky food, then it is important you know what to do. Since it may be a day or two before you can get an emergency dental appointment in a coastal vacation area, you need to understand how to reduce your pain and protect your underlying tooth from further damage while you are waiting. To this end, follow this procedure if you lose your dental crown:

Step 1: Clean the Crown 

Your detached crown needs to be cleaned so that it can possibly be reattached by a dentist. If you have your toothbrush with you, then clean off the crown using it with a small dab of toothpaste. Brush off all of the surfaces of the crown, rinse it with water, and then dry it off with a clean towel. Wrap the crown in a paper towel or toilet paper and keep it in a safe place so you can take it to the dentist.

If you do not have your toothbrush because you are only at the beach for the day, then you should wash the crown well with drinking water and you can store it in an empty water bottle to keep the sand off of it.

Step 2: Call for an Emergency Dental Appointment

Once your dental crown is clean and safe, call around and book an emergency dental appointment to have it permanently reattached. If you are in an unfamiliar area, your hotel's concierge can give you a list of local medical professionals. 

Step 3: If You Are in Pain, Try Temporarily Reattaching the Crown Yourself

While you may be tempted to go to the local gas station and buy some super glue and do the crown reattachment yourself, this really isn't safe or advisable. You could do further damage to your existing tooth or you might accidentally glue the crown so it is offset and chewing would damage it.

Instead of buying glue for your crown, purchase some dental adhesive used by people who have dentures. Place a pea-size dot of denture adhesive on the underside of the crown and put it back in place. Gently bite down on the crown to set it into place. Finally, while the crown is only glued in place by the denture adhesive, you should be very careful when you are eating and drinking to keep it from becoming dislodged. Eat only soft foods and chew them on the opposite side of your mouth as the crown is located. 


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