Lost crown or filling
Lost a crown or filling? Protect the tooth.
Not a panic situation, but not one to sit on either. Call any hour, get scheduled on the spot, and we'll recement, replace, or rebuild during office hours Monday through Friday.
Answered 24/7 · Same-day slots Mon to Fri
First, do this
Good news first: this is one of the easiest dental problems to fix when you act on it. Call 540-315-3725 whenever it happens; our smart answering system books your visit on the spot, any hour. Then:
- 1. Keep the crown. Rinse it gently and put it somewhere safe, a small container or zip bag. An intact crown can often be recemented, which is the quickest and least expensive outcome.
- 2. Do not glue it back with household adhesive. Super glue is not safe in the mouth and can make a proper repair impossible. If you can't be seen right away, temporary dental cement from a pharmacy, used as the package directs, is a reasonable short-term option.
- 3. Chew on the other side. The exposed tooth is weaker than it looks, and sticky or hard foods can pull at whatever restoration material remains.
- 4. Rinse with warm salt water after meals to keep the exposed area clean.
- 5. Over-the-counter pain relief, as the package directs, if the tooth is sensitive to cold, sweet, or air. Some sensitivity is normal; severe or throbbing pain means tell us when you call, because that changes how quickly you should be seen.
Why you shouldn't sit on it
We'll level with you: a lost filling or crown is rarely a middle-of-the-night crisis. Nobody needs to drive across Lynchburg in a bathrobe over it. But "not a crisis" and "can wait a month" are very different things. The crown or filling was armor. With it gone, the softer inner tooth is exposed to everything you eat and drink, and decay moves through unprotected tooth structure faster than almost anywhere else in the mouth. Neighboring teeth can also start drifting toward the gap. A one-visit repair this week can turn into a root canal conversation a month from now. Call when it happens; come in within days, not weeks.
What treatment looks like
Your visit starts with a look at the tooth and a digital X-ray, because the question that matters most is what's happening underneath. If the tooth is healthy and the crown is intact, Dr. Kim or Dr. Azevedo cleans both surfaces and recements it, and you're done in one short visit. If there's decay under the old restoration, we clean it out first, then either reseat the existing crown or craft a new crown that fits the tooth as it is now. A lost filling gets the same logic: the tooth is cleaned and a fresh tooth-colored filling is placed, usually in a single appointment. Everything happens in-house at our 15-operatory Thomson Drive office, and with same-day emergency slots held Monday through Friday, most lost-crown calls are sitting in a chair within a day of picking up the phone.
The sooner it's covered, the smaller the fix.
Call 540-315-3725 any hour. We answer 24/7 and schedule you on the spot; treatment happens Monday through Friday, 8 to 5.
Reviewed by Dr. Jihoon Kim, DDS, July 2026
Common questions
Frequently asked
- What if I call after hours?
- Our smart answering system picks up 24/7, nights and weekends included, and gets you scheduled on the spot, typically into a same-day or next-morning emergency slot. The repair itself happens during office hours, Monday through Friday 8 to 5. For a lost crown that usually means you're back to normal within a day or two of the call, not weeks.
- Is a lost crown or filling a real emergency?
- Honestly? It's rarely a middle-of-the-night crisis. But it is time-sensitive. The tooth underneath is exposed and unprotected, so decay moves fast, and teeth around the gap can begin to shift. Call when it happens, get on the schedule, and don't sit on it for weeks.
- Can I glue the crown back on myself?
- Not with anything from the junk drawer. Super glue and household adhesives are not safe in the mouth and can ruin the crown for proper recementing. Temporary dental cement from a pharmacy, used as the package directs, is an acceptable short-term bridge until your visit. It's meant to hold for days, not weeks.
- What if I swallowed the crown or filling?
- Don't panic. A swallowed crown or filling almost always passes without trouble. The important thing is that the tooth underneath is now exposed, so we still need to see you, and if the crown is truly gone, we'll make a new one.
- Why do crowns and fillings come loose?
- Usually simple wear. The cement under a crown weakens over the years, old fillings develop margins where the seal breaks down, and grinding or a heavy bite speeds both along. Sometimes decay under the restoration is the real culprit, which is exactly what we check for before anything goes back on.
- Can the old crown just go back on?
- Often, yes. If the crown is intact and the tooth under it is healthy, recementing it is a short, simple visit and the least expensive fix. If we find decay underneath, we clean it out first, then either reseat the crown if it still fits or make a new one that does.
- What will it cost?
- Recementing an existing crown is one of the smaller repairs we do, and you'll have a clear quote before treatment either way. No insurance? Virginia Dental Club members ($279 a year) get 20% off treatment, and financing is available if the tooth ends up needing more than a recement.
Crown in your hand? Call us.
540-315-3725 is answered every hour of every day. You'll be scheduled before you hang up, usually for a same-day or next-morning slot.