What to do if the temporary filling has fallen out?
As the name provisionally suggests, this filling is not as important as a permanent filling, but it should be re-inserted. A temporary closure after a started root canal treatment is important to keep the canal free of food and bacteria. If this filling is left open, the medication that has been inserted will be washed out.
The chance of preserving the tooth through the root canal treatment is thus reduced. If a temporary filling is intended to protect exposed dentin or even an opened pulp until the next appointment, this protection is missing until the next treatment appointment when the filling falls out. During this time the tooth is more vulnerable and more sensitive to mechanical, chemical and thermal stimuli.
Cost and warranty
The cost varies greatly depending on when the filling breaks out, where the affected tooth is located and the size of the filling. The guarantee for a tooth filling is 2 years. Roughly speaking, this means that within this time a defective filling must be repaired free of charge.
However, only the dentist who has placed the filling himself/herself will cover these costs. A foreign dentist cannot be responsible for another filling, so it is important to visit your own dentist. Plastic fillings are not covered by health insurance, unless you have additional insurance.
So if the filling needs to be replaced after 2 years, a plastic filling must be paid privately. Other materials, such as cement or amalgam, are covered by statutory health insurance. If there are other caries under the filling which has to be removed additionally, it is possible that the new filling will be bigger than the old one. If another area of the tooth is replaced with this filling, the filling will become more expensive.
No pain – renew the filling anyway?
It is absolutely necessary to replace the broken out filling. Depending on the size of the filling, the tooth may lack the outer protective layer. The tooth is much more sensitive to cold and heat.
Moreover, the hard tooth substance is missing to absorb the strong chewing forces. If the filling is larger so that dentine is already exposed when it falls out, it is easy for caries to destroy the tooth even further. Dentin is softer than the enamel and much more susceptible to acids and caries.
The caries could spread further and, over time, also affect the nevus inside the tooth. The consequences of a filling that has not been replaced are pain when chewing or even at rest. If the filling extends to the neighboring tooth, the contact between the two teeth is missing when it falls out. If the situation were left as it is, the teeth migrate towards each other because they do not have a so-called approximal contact (interdental contact) that keeps them in place. It is also important that the tooth in the other jaw has a counter tooth, otherwise it will grow out of its socket until it makes contact again.
