If you suddenly feel something hard and weird in your mouth while you are eating, you may have just lost a filling. Losing a filling is something that will need dental care, but there are things you can do in the meantime to protect your tooth and reduce the sensitivity and pain you may be experiencing.

Clean your mouth

When this happens, the first thing you should do is remove the filling from your mouth so you do not swallow it. After that, you should rinse your mouth out with warm salt water. To do this, mix one teaspoon of salt in one cup of warm water and swish this around your mouth. You may have to do this multiple times, depending on how soon you can get to the dentist.

The goal is to keep the tooth clean until it can be repaired. If you do not keep it clean, the tooth could become infected or decay might begin to form on it. WebMD recommends sticking a piece of sugar-free gum inside the hole to protect the tooth, but this is only a temporary fix.

Treat the sensitivity and pain

After losing a filling, the best thing you can do is to visit a 24-hour dentist such as Hernandez Dental to have it fixed right away. If you do not want to do this, you may end up experiencing pain and sensitivity with the tooth, but there are several ways to relieve these uncomfortable sensations, including:

• Take pain killers – Taking a few over-the-counter pain killers can help relieve pain from a missing filling. The most common type of pain occurs when the dentin tubules in a tooth are exposed. This causes extreme sensations of hot and cold, and this often happens when fillings come out.
• Fill the tooth with temporary tooth filling – If you visit your local pharmacy, you may be able to purchase a temporary tooth filling kit. With this, you can insert dental filling material into the tooth yourself. This filling material is made of zinc-oxide and is meant to be used temporarily to replace lost fillings.  
• Rub clove oil on it – Clove oil is a natural essential oil that is often used to relieve toothaches. It may be available at a pharmacy or grocery store, and it will numb your tooth and the surrounding area.

These are all great ways to get by while you are missing a filling, but you should go to the dentist to have the problem fixed. If you do not want to wait days or weeks to see your regular dentist, you could always visit a 24-hour dentist for immediate services.