emergency dentist Sterling Heights Archives | Sterling Heights Dentist, Dr. Farhat of Dental 1 Care

Temporary dental crowns aren’t designed to last long since they are only needed for a week or two. Since temporary crowns aren’t made from very strong materials, it is possible for them to fall out prematurely. If your temporary crown ever pops out, our team at Dental One Care in Sterling Heights recommends the following.

Remove The Temporary Crown Completely

You risk swallowing the crown or aspirating it into your lungs if it is partially dislodged and you keep it in your mouth while you eat or speak. The first step that Dr. Christopher Green, an emergency dentist in Parker, CO, recommends is that you take out the temporary crown from your mouth. Removing it also prevents the germs that are on that crown from spreading to any damaged tissues at the site of the dislodged temporary crown.

Rinse Your Mouth

It is possible that the detached temporary crown may have left shards in your mouth. For this reason, the experts at Dental One Care recommend that you rinse your mouth so that you remove those shards if they are present.

Examine Your Tooth

If you can, look at the tooth from which the temporary crown has popped. See if you can locate any areas of the tooth that are damaged. If you can’t inspect it visually, you can gently run your tongue over the surface of the tooth. If there are jagged edges, make a mental note of the location of those sharp or jagged edges. This information will be vital in the next step that your Sterling Heights dentists recommend that you take.

Contact Your Sterling Heights Dentist

After examining your tooth, contact us immediately and explain your dental emergency to your Sterling Heights dentist. If you noticed jagged edges when you examined your tooth, let the dentist know. Dr. Fardi Farhat will get you in ASAP so he can fix the temporary crown before further damage occurs.

Clean the Dental Crown

After talking to an emergency dentist, proceed to the step of cleaning the popped temporary crown. Use a clean toothbrush to gently scrub the crown. While at it, you should also ensure that you clean the place in your mouth from where the temporary crown popped out of.

While You Wait to See Dr. Farhat

Depending on the specific instructions that you were given when you called Dental One Care, you may need to reattach the temporary crown. This step is necessary because the preparations done on your tooth to get it ready for the permanent crown need to be protected from being compromised. Additionally, the tooth is weaker because of the enamel that was removed, so having the temporary crown in place shields that tooth from damage. To put it back, buy over-the-counter dental cream and first place the crown on the tooth to confirm that you have got the position of the crown right. You can then follow the usage instructions provided on the package of the dental cream to reattach the crown.

Gently bite down on the crown to be sure that you placed it back correctly. If it feels strange or uncomfortable, then you may have positioned it incorrectly.

Why Do Temporary Crowns Fall Out?

Sterling Heights dentists explain that temporary crowns can fall out for a variety of reasons that are connected to either the underlying tooth or the temporary crown itself. The retention of the temporary crown largely depends on the integrity of the tooth structure surrounding the crown. Dr. Fardi Farhat specifically singles out heavy teeth grinding, trauma and tooth decay as the most common reasons why temporary and permanent crowns will pop out.

If none of those factors are found responsible for the falling out of your temporary crown, then the adhesive used to attach that crown could have failed and left the temporary crown loose.

When you call Sterling Heights Dentist, Dr. Farhat, he will assess the popped out temporary crown and determine if it can be repaired and reattached or a replacement one needs to be made. Follow all the temporary crown care instructions that our experts give you and you will have no problem until it is time to get the permanent crown.

If your Sterling Heights dentist told you that you need to undergo root canal therapy, you’ll need to read this article so that you can make a more informed decision. Keep in mind that Dr. Fardi Farhat is always available to offer this second opinion and discuss the treatment options available.

Does a Root Canal Save the Tooth?

The experts at Dental One Care can only recommend a root canal if your tooth is infected, and it is either dead or dying. In this case, the procedure is geared at preserving that dead tooth so that you can continue using it to eat and speak normally. A dead tooth is already dead, so it cannot be saved.

Otherwise, if the dead tooth is extracted, the gap left can result in bone resorption and difficulty in eating and speaking until you replace the missing tooth with an implant or any other restoration.

How Dentists Determine the Necessity of a Root Canal

Determining whether a tooth is dead or dying and if a root canal is in order isn’t a clear cut process. The experience and skill of the dentist assessing you matters, because infected teeth could recover if the infection is caught early. The following considerations can help the Sterling Heights dentist make a determination about the necessity of a root canal.

Lingering Pain. Pain can be described as either lingering or non-lingering. Either of these types has implications regarding the necessity of a root canal. For instance, pain that goes away soon after the stimulus is removed (for example when you stop sipping on a hot beverage) is non-lingering pain because it goes away once the cause is removed. Such pain could indicate that the pulp inside your tooth is still alive and can recover from the infection, so a root canal may not be necessary. However, pain that lasts long after the stimulus is removed is called lingering pain, and it suggests that the infection is so advanced that there is no chance that the pulp will recover. In this situation, a root canal is necessary.

Positional Pain. Dr. Fardi Farhat will also pose several questions to you in order to ascertain whether the tooth pain you feel worsens when your body is in certain positions. For instance, does the pain begin or get worse when you lie down? If you experience worse pain when you bend or lie down, you may have a tooth abscess and the dentist in Sterling Heights, MI may recommend a root canal since the tooth could already be dead.

Spontaneous Pain. Our dental care professionals at Dental One Care in Sterling Heights will also need to know whether the tooth pain that you feel starts spontaneously or only when a stimulus, such as cold drink, triggers it. Tooth pain that just occurs out of the blue when you aren’t doing anything to trigger it leads us to believe the tooth is dead. In contrast, if the pain only comes when a stimulus is present, that could point to the possibility that the pulp can recover from the infection. A root canal is a possibility for spontaneous pain, but the procedure may not be required if the pain only comes when the tooth is stimulated by something hot or cold.

Referred Pain. Referred pain is pain that originates in one part of the body and is manifested in another part of the body. For example, the pain from an abscessed tooth can trigger a headache or an earache. Dr. Fardi Farhat skillfully questions patients in order to tease out information about any referred pain. If this type of pain is discovered, you may need a root canal because referred pain is an indicator of a tooth abscess.

Our dentists in Sterling Heights will assess the information gathered on the issues above, and then decide whether a root canal is called for or another treatment option will suffice.

Why Root Canals Aren’t 100% Clean

Basically, a root canal procedure involves cutting an opening at the top of a dead or dying tooth and then inserting instruments to clean out all the infected pulpal tissue from the tooth canals. The void left is then disinfected and sealed to prevent bacterial intrusion.

However, Dr. Fardi Farhat explains that things don’t always work out as planned because each tooth has multiple canals that intercross. Consequently, it can be hard to do a perfect job of removing all the infected tissues, so there is a chance that the root canal could fail and pain may develop later.

This possibility is the reason why you should ask your dentist about the likelihood of success with a root canal, and if there is a chance that the procedure will fail, then you could consider getting a dental implant immediately instead of taking chances with a root canal that has a small chance of working.

Some Things to Keep In Mind

Many times, a dentist will recommend that you undergo a root canal when you come in with intense pain from a tooth infection.

In most cases, the pain will drive you to accept any solution recommended by your dentist, but Dr. Fardi Farhat suggests that this is the time to go slow and be sure that a root canal is the best option. For example, the infection may not be so severe that the tooth cannot survive, in which case a root canal may not be justifiable. On the contrary, the tooth may be so severely decayed that extracting it may be the most feasible solution. We asked our friend, Dr. Kristina Neda, a dentist in Georgetown, Kentucky, about root canal therapy. Dr. Neda said that every person is different. So, you may need a root canal or you might not. The best way you can find out is by asking your doctor before things get worse.

Ask Your Sterling Heights Dentist

Undergoing a root canal is definitely something you should think about. It is helpful for you to ask as many questions as possible so that you are sure that the best alternative in the circumstances is to undergo a root canal procedure. If you have some doubts, contact Dental One Care, and Dr. Fardi Farhat will be more than glad to give you a second opinion about the status of your tooth.

While talking to Dr. Fardi Farhat about your concerns, remember to ask about what you should expect before, during, and after the root canal procedure. Dr. Farhart will give you all the information that you need so that the procedure is successful. Now knowing this information, don’t delay undergoing the procedure at Dental One Care because any delay could allow the infection to spread and affect not just the nearby teeth but also other organs in the body, such as your heart.

Measures to Take When Your Crown Falls Out