Swallowing food particles whilst fasting

Question:-

I have a broken tooth at the back of my mouth. At times, food particles get stuck in the cavity. Should I have it filled? Will it affect the validity of my fast in anyway?

Answer:-

If a food particle stuck in the broken tooth was swallowed, then the fast will be invalidated, if the food particle is equivalent to a chickpea in size or larger. However, if the food particle was smaller than a chickpea, then the fast will not be invalidated.

It is best that the tooth is filled if possible, so that food particles do not remain in the broken tooth. However, if a food particle does remain behind in the broken tooth, it will not affect the validity of the fast. It is only when the particle is swallowed, the validity of the fast could be affected, depending on the size of the food particle as explained above.

وَإِنْ أَكَلَ مَا بَيْنَ أَسْنَانِهِ لَمْ يُفْسِدْ إنْ كَانَ قَلِيلًا وَإِنْ كَانَ كَثِيرًا يُفْسِدُ، وَالْحِمَّصَةُ وَمَا فَوْقَهَا كَثِيرٌ، وَمَا دُونَهَا قَلِيلٌ، وَإِنْ أَخْرَجَهُ، وَأَخَذَهُ بِيَدِهِ ثُمَّ أَكَلَ يَنْبَغِيَ أَنْ يُفْسِدَ كَذَا فِي الْكَافِي (الفتاوي الهندية ص202 ج1)

ALLAH TA’ALA KNOWS BEST!

ANSWERED BY:

Mufti Mohammed Desai

Date: 20 Shabaan 1444 / 13 March 2023