- Chrissy Teigen said she lost a tooth while eating a fruit rollup on Wednesday.
- She later said that it was actually a crown but that she "loved him like he was a real tooth."
- An orthodontist told Insider that "routine dental care" and visits to the dentist could help you avoid that.
Chrissy Teigen is having an eventful - and potentially painful - few days.
First, the cookbook author said she "got scolded" for Instagramming too much of the rehearsal for the US presidential inauguration, where her husband, John Legend, performed.
Then, after the inauguration on Wednesday, she said she lost a tooth while snacking on a fruit rollup.
Teigen shared the dental ordeal with her followers on social media. "I just lost my tooth in a fruit rollup," she said in a video posted early Thursday.
Technically, Teigen later clarified, what she had lost was a cap, also known as a dental crown, a tooth-shaped cap placed over teeth that might have become damaged over time or because of some kind of injury.
Still, Teigen said in a follow-up tweet that she "loved him like he was a real tooth." In either case, ouch.
Read more: Dentists say young influencers who are filing down their teeth for the 'perfect smile' will need dentures by the time they're 40
An expert says Teigen's tooth mishap is easy to avoid
Dr. Kami Hoss, an orthodontist based in California, told Insider that it's actually quite easy to prevent a crown from falling out the next time you're enjoying a sticky snack.
"People should maintain their routine dental care, including their routine visits to the dentist, so any early sign of a loose crown can be immediately dealt with," Hoss said.
Hoss added that because the video was blurry, he couldn't quite make out whether Teigen lost a temporary crown or a permanent one. He said it was "fairly uncommon" for a permanent crown to fall off like that, but not impossible.
Hoss said a permanent crown falling out while eating would depend on several factors, including how tight the crown was to begin with, its age, its condition, the bonding material used to place it, and, of course, how sticky the food is.
"If the crown is fitted correctly and it is in a good shape, then it's unlikely it'll get loose from typical sticky foods, including rollups," he told Insider.
If your crown does come off like Teigen's, don't try any DIY remedies - get it fixed by a professional right away
"As a general rule, people should avoid doing any DIY procedures to glue the crown back on," Hoss said. "I've seen people using superglue to bond their crowns back."
He added that superglue is toxic and can create problems down the road for the dentist who has to more permanently fix the crown.
Hoss said to go see a dentist soon after your crown comes loose to avoid cavities and to make sure the teeth around the lost crown are properly aligned.
Teigen's fans tried to cheer her up and offer solidarity
Many of Teigen's 13.6 million Twitter followers were sympathetic to her fallen crown and offered solidarity in the form of similar anecdotes.
One person said they'd lost their crown to a popcorn kernel.
Kimi Evans, a meteorologist, said she lost hers to a ginger chew.
One follower offered a bit of humor with a dentistry pun.
It was unclear whether Teigen had gone back to her dentist, as Hoss suggested, but she did say on Thursday that her family was back home in Los Angeles.
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