Broken crown question (tooth, not tiara!)

[KJ-52fan]

My temporary crown broke in half this afternoon, exposing a back molar that had a root canal a couple of weeks ago. The tooth has a blue filling of some kind and has been worn down in preparation for the permanent crown to be 'installed' in ten days.

My problem is that my dentist doesn't work on Fridays and I'm leaving on a week-long roadtrip on Monday. I put a call in to his after-hours number, but haven't heard back from him.

How long can I leave my stubby little tooth exposed without running into any problems? I'm concerned about the durability of the stub for the next ten days.

Should I try to see if he can squeeze me in on Monday morning and we'll just get a later start to our trip than planned? Or is it no big deal and just don't worry about it?

Thanks for any help you can give me : )

 

[JessicaR]

I would call his emergency # leave a message. I see you did. I imagine you will hear from him. Since the tooth had a root canal you should be fine for your vacation. I would not chew on that side but prep and pain wise you should be OK if you are thus far. Is it sensitive at all?

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I would also take care of it before your vacation. Hopefully the dentist will call you soon.

 

[swald91]

Not a dentist here, but have had a root canal w/ bridge and whenever I have ANY tooth issues (and they always seem to come around when we travel) I never leave my house without clove oil. It works better anything you get in the store! I do hope you can get into see or call from the dentist-you could always hit an ER & they may be able to give you a prescription for pain...good luck!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I once lost a temporary crown on a Sunday evening when I was on an out of town trip. Although I was in no pain, it was very important that I got a new temporary because the dentist had already taken the molds for the permanent crown.

I made sure that I did not do any chewing on that side of my mouth.

I was able to go to a dental collage the next day and they put in a new temporary for me. As long as you don't chew on that side you will not damage the tooth (or post and build-up). Or if need be just go to a walk-in dental clinic, but do get a new temporary.

 

[MK2thcleaner]

It is important to get a new temporary made because with nothing holding the "stump" back it could possibly move even the slightest amount and keep the permanent crown from fitting when it gets in from the lab. You likely won't have any pain or even discomfort since you've had a root canal. I agree that you should chew on the other side, but the blue build up material that you have in there is pretty darn strong.

Hope you have a good trip!

 

[KJ-52fan]

Thanks for all of the replies. My dentist did call me around dinner time and apologized for not getting back to me sooner. He'd been four-wheeling in the mountains and was out of range. (He's a way cool dentist!) He's going to fix it for me tomorrow afternoon, so everything's good. It's not sensitive or painful at all so there's no problem there.

I appreciate the information about the possibility of the tooth stump moving if I wasn't able to get the temporary replaced soon. I have avoided hard or chewy food since I lost it this afternoon so hopefully all is well. I just hope I don't break it again while we're out of town; I'm planning on having some schnitzel next week!

 

[dis-happy]

I never travel without a tube of Fixadent in my bag. Seems I always have a crown fall off at the most inconvenient times! Fixadent works great for a temporary repair.