Quick answer: If a filling or crown falls out, contact a dentist and keep any crown to take with you. Protect the tooth while waiting for advice. Severe pain or swelling may need urgent dental help; difficulty breathing or swallowing needs emergency care.
A missing filling and a crown that has come off can feel similar, but the next treatment is not necessarily the same. This guide explains what to do first, when to seek urgent help and which questions to ask before agreeing to a repair or replacement.
Lost filling or crown: how urgently do I need help?
Describe your symptoms when you call rather than assuming that every lost restoration needs the same appointment. The NHS urgent dental care guidance includes broken or loose fillings and crowns among reasons to ask for dental advice.
| What is happening? | What to do |
|---|---|
| A filling or crown is missing, without severe symptoms | Contact a dentist, explain what has happened and ask how soon you should be assessed. |
| Severe pain affecting sleep or daily life, pain that is not settling, or swelling | Ask for urgent dental advice. If you cannot obtain dental help, use NHS 111. |
| Difficulty breathing or swallowing, serious facial injury, or heavy bleeding that will not stop | Call 999 or go to A&E. Do not wait for an online appointment reply. |
If a whole adult tooth has been knocked out, that is a different injury requiring emergency dental care. Follow the NHS knocked-out tooth advice rather than treating it as a lost crown.
What to do while waiting to see a dentist
- Keep the crown. If you have it, put it somewhere safe and bring it to the appointment. Tell the team if you cannot find it.
- Keep the area clean. Continue brushing gently with fluoride toothpaste. Do not stop cleaning your mouth because one tooth feels vulnerable.
- Protect the affected tooth. Avoid biting hard food on it. If hot, cold or sugary food triggers discomfort, avoid those triggers while you arrange care.
- Ask about pain relief. A pharmacist can advise which products are suitable for you. Follow the instructions and any advice already given by your clinician.
NHS Wales guidance on lost fillings and crowns supports keeping the crown, maintaining cleanliness and avoiding heavy biting. For help in London, use your dentist or NHS 111; the Welsh registration arrangements on that source do not apply here.
Should I use a temporary filling or crown repair kit?
Ask a pharmacist or dental team whether a temporary dental product is appropriate for your situation and follow its instructions. It is not a permanent repair or a reason to postpone assessment. Do not use household glue to attach a crown.
If you are unsure what has broken, keep the crown safe and ask for advice before trying to put it back. A photograph can help explain what you have noticed, but it does not establish which treatment is suitable.
Can the dentist put the same crown back?
Sometimes a crown can be re-cemented, but this needs an assessment of the tooth and restoration. A crown that looks intact is not enough to confirm that it still fits appropriately. Cleveland Clinic’s crown guidance advises contacting a dentist about looseness, cracks, sharp edges or a bad taste.
Ask whether the proposed treatment is a temporary measure or the final repair. If a new restoration is recommended, ask why the existing crown cannot be reused and what alternatives are suitable. Our crowns, inlays and onlays service page explains treatment at Abi Dental Care.
Will a lost filling need a crown or root canal treatment?
Not automatically. The dentist needs to examine what remains of the tooth. Options can include a temporary repair, a new filling or a different restoration. NHS guidance on broken teeth explains that treatment varies with the damage, and root canal treatment may be needed when the nerve is exposed in a badly broken tooth.
A crown is not the right answer for every tooth. Leeds Teaching Hospitals’ crown guidance discusses situations where other restorations may be suitable. For the differences in coverage, read our crown versus onlay comparison. An online description cannot determine which option your tooth needs.
What should I tell the practice when I call?
- Whether a filling, temporary crown or permanent crown appears to have come out.
- When it happened and whether it followed an injury.
- Whether there is pain, swelling, bleeding or difficulty eating.
- Whether you still have the crown, and whether the tooth has recently been treated.
- Any instructions from the dentist who carried out the original treatment.
Keep questions about urgency separate from questions about replacement materials or appearance. First establish the appropriate next appointment; then ask what the treatment plan includes. If this follows root canal treatment, our root canal aftercare guide explains why a temporary filling still needs follow-up.
Assessment and repair costs in Maida Vale
Abi Dental Care’s published fees list an emergency appointment at £100 plus the treatment fee. This was checked on 18 October 2026. It is not a fixed total for replacing a filling or re-cementing a crown.
Ask for an itemised estimate that separates the assessment, any necessary imaging, temporary treatment and final restoration. Confirm what happens if the findings change. A composite filling starting price is not a quotation for every repair, and the cost of a new crown is different from an appointment to assess a loose one.
Frequently asked questions
My crown fell out but it does not hurt. Can I leave it?
Contact a dentist for advice even without pain. Explain what happened and ask about the appropriate timing. Keep the crown safe to bring with you.
Can I eat after a filling falls out?
Choose food you can manage comfortably and avoid biting hard food with the affected tooth. Ask for advice if eating is painful or the edge is sharp.
What if a temporary crown comes off?
Contact the dentist managing your treatment and explain that the restoration is temporary. Temporary crowns are part of an ongoing treatment plan, so follow the team’s instructions and keep your planned follow-up.
What if the practice is closed?
For urgent dental advice in England, contact NHS 111. Use 999 or A&E for the emergency signs above. Do not rely on an online appointment request for urgent help.
What if the filling or crown is still in place but hurts?
A painful tooth with an intact restoration needs assessment too. Our separate guide to tooth pain when biting explains possible causes and the difference between an appointment for assessment and urgent help. Pain alone cannot confirm that a filling or crown needs replacing.
Contact Abi Dental Care
For an assessment in Maida Vale, call 020 7286 2626 during practice hours, Monday to Friday, 09:00–17:00. The team will advise on appointment availability. You can also request an appointment or find our contact details and address. This is a private practice; the NHS links explain public advice routes, not NHS treatment at Abi Dental Care.
General patient information, not a diagnosis or a substitute for advice from your treating dentist. Sources checked on 18 October 2026: NHS, NHS Wales, Leeds Teaching Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic, linked above.
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