raden wrote:
I've just lost half a molar from a stone in something I ate last week.
Anybody got any suggestions for what I can patch it up with until it's
time for my dental check up ?
i.e. something that can fill, be drilled and isn't toxic ?

Bring your dental checkup forward!!! Prompt treatment may enable the
tooth to be saved (using eg a crown). Delaying treatment may mean an
infected pulp and Very Bad Things[1]. A broken tooth justifies an
Emergency Appointment.

If there is pain then a plug of cotton wool soaked in oil of cloves can
be used. (My dental book says). If there are sharp edges which could
cause damage to the mouth, cover with gauze.

Some pharmacists may have emergency filling kits (I thikn gutta percha
is the material) but theyr'e for repairing lost fillings in the middle
of the Amazonian rainforest, not half a tooth falling off.

Dental fillings are placed over a lining to prevent the filling material
irritating the dentine or pulp. Also, all diseased tissue, moisture and
unsupported enamel must be removed before filling.

If you are going to use car body filler ^W^W^W composite resin, you
would probably need to paint the tooth in phosphoric acid, this creates
a honeycomb in the enamel, which the composite can bond with. You would
also need calcium hydroxide to sooth the dentine and pulp, the calcium
hydroxide is also adhesive. Then whizz with UV light to set the resin.

Owain


[1] This means not just Very Unpleasant Things but also, in today's
universally-available free-at-the-point-of-use cradle-to-grave N.H.S.,
Very Expensive Things.