emergency dentistry
Filling or crown came off? Save it — skip the glue.
Call 540-885-8037 and take a breath — a lost filling or crown is urgent-adjacent, not a crisis, and it's often fixed in a single visit at our Fishersville office. Same-day slots exist for exactly this. The rules until you're seen: keep the crown safe, keep the tooth clean, and keep the super glue in the drawer.
Until your visit
If a crown came off, find it and keep it — in a small bag or container, brought with you. An intact crown can often be cleaned and cemented right back on, which turns this into the least expensive visit in this entire section of the site.
Keep the area clean with gentle brushing and warm salt-water rinses, and chew on the other side. The exposed tooth underneath is softer than enamel and often sensitive to temperature — that's expected, not a bad sign.
A drugstore temporary dental cement can cover the tooth or hold a crown for a day or two. What never works: household glue or super glue. We can repair almost anything done properly; we can't undo cyanoacrylate on a living tooth, and it usually means the crown can't be reused.
Why the timeline is days, not weeks
The tooth under a filling or crown was already treated once — that's why it had the restoration. Uncovered, it collects bacteria in places a toothbrush can't reach, and teeth can shift position in surprisingly few weeks, after which the old crown no longer fits. Seen within a few days, this is routine; put off a month, it can become a root canal or a new crown.
So: not tonight's emergency, but this week's appointment. Call, tell the front desk what happened, and they'll slot you honestly — our office is on the Augusta Health campus, minutes from Staunton, Waynesboro, and Stuarts Draft.
At the visit
We check why it came loose — sometimes it's simple wear, sometimes decay under the restoration was the real culprit. A sound crown goes back on with fresh cement the same visit. If the tooth needs a new filling or a new crown, we'll design it from an iTero digital scan and you'll see the written cost before we start.
Questions we hear in the chair
- Can you just glue my old crown back on?
- Often, yes — if the crown is intact and the tooth under it is sound, recementing is a quick visit. That's why keeping the crown (and keeping glue away from it) matters so much.
- It doesn't hurt. Can it wait?
- A few days, yes; a few weeks, no. The exposed tooth is collecting bacteria, and neighboring teeth start drifting into the space, after which the old crown won't seat. Call now, be seen this week, and it stays a small fix.
- What should I avoid eating until then?
- Chewy and sticky things — caramel, gum, dried fruit — which can pull at temporary cement or grab the exposed tooth, plus very hot or cold food if the tooth is sensitive. Chew on the other side and you'll manage fine.
- The filling fell out of a tooth that already had a root canal. Different rules?
- The pain risk is lower since the nerve is gone, but the urgency is the same or higher — a root-canaled tooth depends on its seal against bacteria. Same advice: keep it clean, call, come in this week.
Clinical content reviewed by Dr. Brian Podbesek, Lead Dentist.
On Medical Park Drive since 2014. . Call for current availability.