Managing broken, chipped and loose teeth at home
We’re delighted that most of our dental practices across the UK are now open for different levels of face-to-face care. At the present time we’re prioritising emergency appointments and those with the greatest need. However, there may be some instances where we still can’t see you face-to-face, or you may need to wait a little longer for an appointment than usual. Therefore, in the meantime, we’ve created some useful tips to support you if you're managing broken, loose or chipped teeth.
Broken and chipped teeth
If your tooth has chipped or a piece has broken off, it can create a sharp edge that digs into the tongue, lips or cheek. If it’s causing you pain, you should:
- Floss around the area first, and then thoroughly brush the tooth as normal to keep it clean
- Take over-the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol to ease pain
- Rub toothpaste directly onto the affected tooth. Don’t rinse your mouth with water afterwards or you’ll wash away the benefits of the toothpaste
- Use cotton wool to apply clove oil to the area, which can help relieve pain
- If you need to, you can buy temporary filling material from your local pharmacy or supermarket and repair the tooth yourself using the instructions directed on the packet. DenTek and Dentanurse are good examples.
If you’re in excruciating pain from a broken or chipped tooth, or it’s causing severe damage to your cheek or lip, contact a local Bupa Dental Care practice so they can advise you further.
If your tooth is broken or chipped, but you aren’t experiencing any pain, you don’t necessarily need to fill it yourself. Just make sure to take extra care of the tooth, including thorough flossing and cleaning, until your practice re-opens for routine dental care.
Lost filling or hole in tooth
If a lost filling or a hole in your tooth is causing you pain, you can manage it by:
- Avoiding sugary foods, such as sweets and fizzy drinks, which can aggravate toothache
- Continue to brush your teeth as thoroughly as you can with fluoride toothpaste
- As with a broken tooth, you can buy temporary filling material from your local pharmacy or supermarket, and repair it yourself using the instructions directed on the packet. You can also watch our handy video which demonstrates how to use temporary filling material at home.
If you don’t feel comfortable using filling material, you can leave your tooth without a filling, but it could leave you at risk of further decay. Make sure you continue to floss or use interdental brushes, followed by brushing your teeth thoroughly to avoid infection and toothache. For more information, visit our looking after your oral hygiene section.
Even if you can manage a lost filling at home, it’s important that you book an appointment with your local practice when they re-open for routine dental care, so they can provide a long-term solution.
Loose or missing crowns and veneers
If you’re suffering from pain with a loose or missing crown, you can usually manage this with over-the-counter pain relief like paracetamol. It’s also key to keep up good oral hygiene to minimise any pain, including using a fluoride toothpaste and reducing your intake of sugary foods.
Steven Neal, a dentist at Bupa Dental Care explained, “If you feel confident doing so, you can also try recementing the crown in yourself using temporary crown cementing gel called Toofypegs. You can buy this online and in some pharmacies.”
If you don’t feel confident re-fixing your crown, keep it safe and clean so we can re-fit it for you when your practice reopens for routine dental care. Don’t ever try to reattach your crown with super glue or other types of non-dental adhesives.
Loose or rubbing dentures
Similarly to loose teeth, loose dentures can also cause discomfort. If you’ve got problems with your dentures, try to:
- Use a denture fixative like Fixodent or Sealbond denture pads to help make them more comfortable
- Use an emery board to adjust any sharp area on your dentures
- Leave your dentures out as much as you can if they're too sore to wear
If your dentures are causing mouth ulcers, find further information on how to relieve mouth ulcer pain.
If you’re struggling with your dentures, you should book an appointment with your local practice when they re-open for routine care so they can provide you with a long-term solution or talk you through other alternatives for replacing missing teeth.
For further help and advice
If you have a problem which isn’t referenced in this article and is affecting your ability to sleep or concentrate, please get in touch with your local Bupa Dental Care practice.
If you’re experiencing dental pain, find out more in our article, how to relieve toothache.
If you don’t have a dentist, or your practice is closed due to COVID-19 you can contact a Bupa Dental Care practice for emergency support.
If you can manage problems with broken, loose or chipped teeth at home, we’d still encourage you to visit your local practice once it reopens for routine dental care.
From Bupa Dental Care
The health, wellbeing and safety of our patients, their families and our people remain our top priority at Bupa Dental Care. We’d like to thank our patients for their understanding during the COVID-19 situation.
Once it is safe for our practices to re-open, we encourage you to get in touch and book an appointment. The latest status of our practices can be found at: COVID-19 Notice. If you’re experiencing a dental emergency, find and contact your local Bupa Dental Care practice who can offer telephone support and advice to patients with urgent need. They can also direct you to the most appropriate support location if further care is needed.
