bit of spark plug insulation may have fallen into cylinder

[alagappan the proud]

Hi,

I'm new to doing this type of thing and decided to give changing the spark plugs a shot since it didn't seem like much could go wrong. In the process of getting out the right-most plug, it seems that I cracked the spark plug ceramic and the ceramic may have fallen into the engine. I was with my father at the time and he convinced me that there was no way it could have fallen in the engine as it would have gone in the socket, but in hindsight, I see how it could have happened. I actually have a picture of the spark plug while it was still in as I was using my phone camera to get a good look, and upon closer inspection, it looks like the ceramic is visible.

I put the new plug in and because I thought there was no way the ceramic had fallen in the cylinder, I started up the car. What happened next is that the car ran rough for maybe 2-3 seconds and then cleared up. I drove it maybe 25 miles since this happened and everything seems to be fine. Tonight, I had a flashback of the incident and decided to research if ceramic falling into the cylinder is actually something that happens, and what I found is that it is definitely a very bad thing to happen.

I'm looking for advice on what I should do now? It seems like I may have gotten lucky, but is there any chance there is some silent damage being done as I continue to drive it? What should I be on the lookout for? Any advice is appreciated.

PS-- I think maybe a mod should add a warning to the DIY spark plug thread that this is a potential issue. If not, I can just go add a post to the thread warning people like myself who find the page when looking for info on the topic. Changing spark plugs seems pretty straight-forward and fool proof the way it is described, but it seems the truth is that you can potentially destroy your engine if you are not careful to avoid debris falling into the cylinder.