First filling - still have pain when chewing after SIX weeks

[ashleyg92]

Hi all,

Had my first filling done about six weeks ago, I had a white filling on my back upper right tooth. I'm still getting pain, mainly when I chew any food on that side... I'm trying to figure out what the problem is as my Dentist keeps sending me away and telling me to wait but nothing is changing.

Some thoughts: when i poke the tooth with my finger, it seems to hurt most when touching the edge closest to the front of my mouth (so the edge which is sitting adjacent to the next tooth). When having the filling done he REALLY forced something between the gap to protect the neighbouring tooth. Can some damage of been done at this moment? When I floss between the same gap - its extremely painful, more so than chewing.

I told these things to my dentist and he was just confused. A recent x-ray shows a wisdom tooth is very close by and potentially pushing. However I would have to say I've had wisdom tooth pain before and this feels different - and also I was fine the day before the filling.

Does anyone have any ideas? / Had a similar experience ?

 

[honestdoc]

Could you provide an x-ray of the filling. Did your dentist check how the bite is on the filling? It is impossible to guess the source of your pain.

 

[ashleyg92]

Could you provide an x-ray of the filling. Did your dentist check how the bite is on the filling? It is impossible to guess the source of your pain.

Thanks for the quick reply. Sorry I don't have the x-ray. However the dentist had nothing unusual to say about the x-ray - he said the filling was a good filling and everything looked normal, except for the wisdom tooth that was very close by.

And yeah the bite is all fine as well apparently.

Do you have any speculation at all on what the problem could be - and why the pain is most severe in between the gap of the back two teeth?

 

[MattKW]

Very hard to be sure without a pre-op Xray at the least. However,.... white fillings can cause much more post-op sensitivity than amalgams if the filling is too shallow or poorly bonded. Without more info, my initial suggestion would be to have it replaced with an amalgam. After all, it's in an upper back tooth, so aesthetics doesn't come into it. The wisdom tooth won't be the issue.

 

[ashleyg92]

Very hard to be sure without a pre-op Xray at the least. However,.... white fillings can cause much more post-op sensitivity than amalgams if the filling is too shallow or poorly bonded. Without more info, my initial suggestion would be to have it replaced with an amalgam. After all, it's in an upper back tooth, so aesthetics doesn't come into it. The wisdom tooth won't be the issue.

That's true about the aesthetics... I don't know why I didn't go for an amalgam filling in the first place. If he decides to change it I will probably ask for one instead.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[ashleyg92]

@MattKW @honestdoc

Hi again both of you, sorry to bring this back up. However I was able to grab a picture of my most recent X-ray. I was wondering with this would either of you be able to shed some more light on my situation please.

Since my last post - I've had the white filling removed and my Dentist added some sort of 'sensitive blocker' and a temporary filling for now and the next 6 weeks. The X-ray was taken after the white filling was removed. I've added in an arrow to indicate where the origin of the pain is when eating.

Thank you very much both of you.

 

[honestdoc]

I think it is the proximity of the cavity/filling near the nerve (pulp) that is causing you pain/sensitivity. Have your dentist put in a pulpal protectant such as Lime-Lite by Pulpdent and fill it with Fuji Equia glass ionomer. Glass ionomer has the best desensitizing properties.

 

[MattKW]

This is after the white filling was removed and before the temp was inserted? Or is this with the temp inserted? Looks like some decay there.
Have you asked the dentist about an amalgam?
Mostly agree with honestdoc about putting in a GIC temp like a Fuji product. I'd put a smear of a corticosteroid "Ledermix" as a lining which will reduce the symptoms quickly.