Lost filling or crown: what to do straight away, how soon to see a dentist and what a repair costs

Lost filling: what should you do straight away?

When a filling has come out, the most important thing is to protect the tooth until your appointment: keep it clean, spare it when biting and book a visit to the dentist. NHS 111 Wales, the Welsh health service, advises brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, not biting hard food with the tooth that has lost its filling, avoiding very hot and very cold food and keeping sweet things to mealtimes.

The same rules apply when only a piece of the filling has broken off or the filling has cracked. The list sets out the steps for the first few hours.

• Take any loose fragments of filling or tooth out of your mouth so that you do not swallow or inhale them.
• Rinse your mouth with water and gently brush the tooth with fluoride toothpaste, including around the cavity.
• Chew on the other side and avoid hard or chewy sweets.
• If the tooth is sensitive, use a finger to apply toothpaste for sensitive teeth directly to the tooth, as NHS 111 Wales advises.
• Call the practice and describe what happened, whether the tooth hurts and whether anything has broken off.

How can you protect the tooth until your appointment, and what should you avoid?

Until the appointment, a tooth with a cavity can be covered with a temporary repair kit from a pharmacy. The Scottish SDCEP guidance for dentists giving advice remotely recommends that, with an open cavity, the patient use such a kit if the practice cannot place a dressing straight away; it is a solution for the wait until the visit, not a substitute for a filling.

Do not glue a crown back on with household glue and do not force it into place. Household glue is not a dental material, and the dentist then has to remove its remnants from the tooth and the crown before trying to refit it. If the crown does not go back easily, keep it in a small box; NHS 111 Wales advises keeping the crown and taking it to the dentist.

Take over-the-counter painkillers as directed in the leaflet. SDCEP treats pain that is not relieved by appropriate painkillers as a reason for an urgent appointment, and the absence of pain as a situation in which a routine appointment is enough. How a dressing placed by a dentist differs is described in a separate article on temporary fillings.

How soon should you see a dentist when a filling or crown has come out?

A lost filling without pain is not an emergency, but it is not worth putting off the visit for weeks, because a tooth without a tight-fitting filling is at risk of further decay and fracture. Pain, swelling or a suspected inhaled fragment change the urgency, as the table shows.

On the NFZ, Poland’s National Health Fund, a patient presenting with pain receives help on the day they present, as laid down in § 6 of the regulation on guaranteed dental treatment services, and at night and at weekends there is the emergency dental service (legal status as of 24 October 2026).

Why does a filling fall out or crack?

A filling most often falls out or cracks for one of two reasons: secondary decay develops under its edge, or the material or the tooth fractures under load. In an analysis of 12 studies of fillings in back teeth with at least 5 years of follow-up (Opdam et al., 2014), decay and fracture were the main reasons for failure, and each additional surface of the filling increased the risk by 30% to 40%.

A review of 34 clinical studies (Demarco et al., 2012) reports that in 90% of them the annual failure rate of composite fillings in back teeth was between 1% and 3%. The authors link fractures to the strength of the material and to patient factors such as bruxism, and secondary decay to the individual risk of decay.

A filling that is meant to be short-lived from the outset also comes out sooner. A dressing or temporary filling only has to last until the next stage of treatment, so if it crumbles, that is a sign to contact the practice providing the treatment.

Why does a crown come off, and can it be cemented back?

A crown can come off when the cement gives way, the tooth underneath is damaged or decay develops. Cleveland Clinic points out that a poorly fitting crown can trap bacteria and encourage decay.

Whether a crown can be refitted is assessed by the dentist after examining the tooth and the crown and, if necessary, after an X-ray. When the tooth underneath is healthy and the crown is intact and fits well, recementing is usually enough; decay, a cracked tooth or a damaged crown mean treating the tooth and often a new crown.

Cleveland Clinic says that a crown lasts on average 5 to 15 years, and with good hygiene and check-ups even more than 30 years. Types of crown and how long they last are described in a separate article on dental crowns.

Repair or a new filling: what will the dentist do at the visit?

At the visit, the dentist checks whether there is decay under the lost filling, how much healthy tissue is left and whether the tooth has cracked, and then chooses a repair, a new filling or a larger restoration. The review by Demarco et al. (2012) regards repair as a realistic alternative to replacement that can markedly extend the life of a filling, and the review by Askar et al. (2020) indicates that secondary decay, once detected, is treated by repairing the damaged part or replacing the whole filling.

When the cavity left by the lost filling is very large or has weakened the walls of the tooth, the dentist may suggest an onlay or a crown instead of another large filling. A tooth that hurts spontaneously or at night needs an assessment of the pulp, because the cause may be pulpitis rather than the loss of the filling itself.

How much does repairing a filling or crown cost, and what does the NFZ cover?

On the NFZ, adults are entitled to fillings of cavities on 1, 2 and 3 surfaces made of glass ionomer cements and, in the teeth from canine to canine, also of chemically cured composite. Recementing a crown is not on the list of guaranteed services, and crowns are not funded (legal status as of 24 October 2026).

In the clinic’s price list, “Naprawa wypełnienia” (filling repair) costs 200 zł, “Wypełnienie dwupowierzchniowe” (two-surface filling) 350 zł and “Zacementowanie korony” (cementing a crown) 250 zł. A “Wizyta z bólem” (visit in pain, 340 zł) includes a panoramic X-ray, a consultation, an examination and pain relief. The final scope and cost are set by the dentist after the examination, and prices may change.

Where can you find help in Białystok if a filling comes out at the weekend?

On the NFZ, dental help at night and at weekends in Podlaskie province is provided by the emergency dental service. According to the NFZ Podlaskie Regional Branch, there is one such facility in the province, in Białystok, and 206 places providing general dentistry services (as of 24 October 2026); the address and duty hours are given in a separate article on finding a dentist at night and at the weekend.

The emergency dental service operates on working days from 19:00 to 7:00 and round the clock at weekends and on public holidays. Current locations are shown by the NFZ search tool “Gdzie się leczyć” (Where to get treatment) and by the 24-hour Telefoniczna Informacja Pacjenta (patient helpline) on 800 190 590.

How it works at DentalBlue

At DentalBlue, a lost filling or crown is assessed by the dentist at the visit, and a panoramic or intraoral X-ray is taken in the clinic’s own radiology unit. When the tooth hurts, the right item is the “Wizyta z bólem” (visit in pain), and without pain the “Wizyta bez bólu” (visit without pain, 300 zł), which includes a panoramic X-ray, a consultation, an examination and a written treatment plan. The clinic is open Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 20:00 and on Saturdays from 8:00 to 16:00, and is closed on Sundays. An appointment can be made by phone on 85 748 00 50.