A filling usually falls out while eating and without pain, which is exactly why people delay the visit. What happens to the tooth meanwhile, how long you can wait, and how the dentist chooses between a filling and a crown. Why it happens
A filling falls out when new decay has formed underneath or along its edge and the tooth has nothing left to hold it; less often from a knock, or because the filling was too large for what remained of the tooth. A piece of tooth breaks off when the tooth is weakened: a large filling, a root canal without a crown, night-time grinding. In both cases the tooth said so long ago, with sensitivity to sweet or cold that is easy to ignore.
What to do right away
- Rinse with warm water or salt water so no food stays in the cavity.
- Keep the piece, filling or tooth fragment, in a dry container. A filling will not be glued back, but a large tooth fragment sometimes can be, and it helps the dentist see how much is missing.
- A sharp edge cutting your tongue or cheek can be covered for now with a piece of sugar-free chewing gum or temporary filling material from a pharmacy.
- Do not chew on that side; avoid very hot, cold and sweet.
- Book: within a week if it does not hurt; if it hurts, call the same day and say so.
What not to do
- Do not glue the filling with household adhesive; it is toxic and damages the tooth.
- Do not put aspirin or garlic in the cavity; they burn the gum and treat nothing.
- Do not wait for months. Exposed dentine without a filling is open to decay, and what is a 90–130 EUR filling today can be a 120–320 EUR root canal plus a crown in a few months.
How urgent
| Situation | How soon |
|---|---|
| Filling lost, no pain, no sensitivity | Within a week |
| Sensitive to cold or sweet, passes in seconds | Within a few days |
| Aches on its own, at night, throbbing | Call the same day: the nerve is inflamed |
| Large piece broken off, a red or pink dot visible in the centre | Call the same day: the nerve is exposed |
| Front tooth chipped by a knock and loose | Call the same day |
When you call, say what happened; we offer the nearest available time and, if needed, find a gap between appointments.
How it is repaired
Filling (90–130 EUR) when less than half the crown of the tooth is missing and the walls are thick enough. One visit, anaesthesia 10 EUR, tooth-coloured composite.
Crown (from 190 EUR) when more than half is missing, when the tooth has already had a root canal, or when a filling in the same place has fallen out a second time. A crown covers the tooth on all sides and protects it from splitting; metal-ceramic 370 EUR, zirconia 600–660 EUR, two to three visits.
Root canal (120–320 EUR) when the break or the decay has reached the nerve. After it the tooth almost always needs a crown.
Which one is decided at a consultation (20–40 EUR) with an X-ray (10–15 EUR), and you get the plan with the total before anything starts.
Booking
Laurus Dent plus, Spikeri, Riga, Monday to Friday 8:00–20:00. Call +371 67224064 or book online. More on fillings: dental fillings; on crowns: dental crowns.