Filling not ‘settling’

SlinkyL

Looking for some advice. I had niggling pain in premolar on top left for a few months but couldn’t see anything decay at all in the tooth. Went to dentist and she took a look and said it was a little decay. Took X-ray, said it wasn’t too deep and I booked in for a filling and clean for a few weeks later. This was my first filing, just there before Xmas.

All went well, she told me use sensodyne and expect a little sensitivity for a few weeks. I did what she said to do, the tube of sensodyne ran out, I used regular toothpaste again. Within a few days the pain came back into the tooth worse than before the filling. Eating on that side, which I had been avoiding was now impossible. This was mid feb. called the dentist, went in for a check. Said there was definitely no issue with the bite, in fact she had commended her work on the initial visit saying bite was perfect several times. She basically told me that it can take 6 months to settle and that I would now need to use sensodyne forever even tho I never previously had any sensitivity. She also said that first time dental work people were more likely to complain, apparently this is taught in dental school. So I’ve to wait til June. I use sensodyne all the time now but there is a constant low level pain in the tooth, no problems in any other teeth. The other day I ate a half popped popcorn kernel and the pain shot through my mouth, to put this into context, i put the same kernel on the other side and ate it no bother, no pain, it wasn’t even that hard.

Is this really normal after a filling? I find it hard to believe, it’s worse now than before the filling and now I’m thinking the nerve was damaged or something.
If very frustrating as I take great care of my teeth, I’m almost 40 and this was my first filling..
Is this normal settling down? Am I over reacting? Google and everyone I know says 4 weeks max is more typical..

Advice much appreciated..

Fishorsealant

I would say at this stage it is worth replacing the filling if it is sensitive.
I would remove the filling and ensure the decay was removed properly and then place a temporary filling. Wait Up to 6 weeks and see if the pain is resolved. If yes place a definite restoration , if no then consider that the tooth may have become irreversibly inflamed and consider further treatment options such as root canal treatment.

Obviously your dentist having carried out and placed the filling will have the most insight. However depending on your symptoms, if you came as a new patient then this is what I would consider first line , especially if the filling wasn't deep.

dudara

For what it’s worth, I had a filling in a molar recently, and at the same time I had an old filling in an adjacent tooth replaced with a new white filling. So two molars filled at the same time.

It honestly took about 6 months before everything “settled”. During that time, I couldn’t comfortably chew hard/crunchy food on that side of my mouth. After 1 month, I was back at the dentist because I was convinced that something was wrong. I’d never experienced this before with previous fillings. However, nothing showed up as wrong and my dentist advised me to give it more time.

While this was all quite uncomfortable, I was never in actual pain. If you’re in pain, I’d say go back to your dentist again, or get a second opinion.

SlinkyL

Fishorsealant wrote: »

I would say at this stage it is worth replacing the filling if it is sensitive.
I would remove the filling and ensure the decay was removed properly and then place a temporary filling. Wait Up to 6 weeks and see if the pain is resolved. If yes place a definite restoration , if no then consider that the tooth may have become irreversibly inflamed and consider further treatment options such as root canal treatment.

Obviously your dentist having carried out and placed the filling will have the most insight. However depending on your symptoms, if you came as a new patient then this is what I would consider first line , especially if the filling wasn't deep.

Thanks for this reply, most helpful. My dentist said I should wait until June. I felt she was very reluctant to accept that there may have been an issue with the work. I am considering asking them to email my X-rays on and going for a second opinion as I’ve lost faith in her a little, just felt she was dismissive and put my issue down to it being my first filing, would you recommend doing this or should I stick with her until June?
At this point I feel what was the point of getting the filling done as tooth is worse than it was before!
Thanks again for reply

Seannew1

I have the exact same issue. I got a deep filling on lower molar 2 months ago. It was a bit sensitive after but settled down but I've had some pain over the last 2 days. I'm extremely worried by this. I'm assuming root canal? Apparently nothing untoward appeared on x-ray either.

SlinkyL

Ok just updating my own post here...June now, six months after filling and it has settled down!! So trust your dentist I guess!! I really thought it was a big balls up but it's all fine now! Fillings can take months to settle it seems!

Seannew1

Fair play for waiting it out! I lost patience with mine and went for root canal. 3 visits plus a lot of money for my troubles!!!!