Hey all. New member here. I feel stuck and not sure what to do.
In May of this year, I saw my dentist for my twice-annual cleaning and exam. She said I had some staining on my left lateral incisor, and she was going to put in a filling as a preventative measure. Well, that turned out to be a HUGE mistake, because now, almost two months later, I'm experiencing DAILY pain in that tooth. It is a mild pain (2-3 on the pain scale, so more of an irritation than actual pain) that comes and recedes in waves. It is NOT sensitive to pressure/percussion, but there DOES seem to be some thermal sensitivity. However, this pain is NOT happening when I am eating or drinking--it's at random times throughout the day. As far as I can tell from my self-diagnosis, it's hurting whenever I expose it to air: by breathing in and out through my mouth, smiling, or speaking.
I've also experienced a MASSIVE shift in my bite that seemed to occur overnight, about 1-2 weeks after getting the filling. Weirdly, it's not the tooth with the filling that's changed--that tooth doesn't even touch any of my other teeth when I bite down. But I can feel my front teeth knocking together when I close my mouth, and I sometimes have problems getting my molars to line up.
I also occasionally feel an intense itching or restless feeling, like I need to chew something extremely crunchy to relieve it. And I've detected a slightly salty taste in my mouth around where that tooth is. Oh, and for the first week after getting the filling, it wasn't smoothed down AT ALL--it was a jagged mess. Now, it IS smoothed out, but I can still clearly feel the edges of the filling each time my tongue touches that tooth, and it's hard to avoid a front tooth with your tongue.
Now, the dentist says that there is NO WAY the filling caused the sensitivity or the other problems. I got a second opinion, and that dentist said the filling was probably unnecessary and sloppily done (he could also immediately detect the edges of the filling when he did the exam), but he doesn't think it could be causing the sensitivity since (in his words) they didn't numb me with a shot when doing the filling, so they didn't etch my tooth. In fact, both dentists say the tooth appears perfectly healthy. I asked if it was possible there could be food getting trapped under the filling, and he said no. But he could not explain the pain I'm experiencing or how to make it go away. He said it could be referred pain, but that doesn't help me much.
I should emphasize that I experienced NO PAIN OR SENSITIVITY in this tooth before the filling went in. I have receding gums, so sensitivity is nothing new for me, but I'm used to only hurting at meal times, not ALL DAY.
Any clue what could be happening or how I can treat it? Also, is it worth asking again to see if they can smooth out the edges?
In May of this year, I saw my dentist for my twice-annual cleaning and exam. She said I had some staining on my left lateral incisor, and she was going to put in a filling as a preventative measure. Well, that turned out to be a HUGE mistake, because now, almost two months later, I'm experiencing DAILY pain in that tooth. It is a mild pain (2-3 on the pain scale, so more of an irritation than actual pain) that comes and recedes in waves. It is NOT sensitive to pressure/percussion, but there DOES seem to be some thermal sensitivity. However, this pain is NOT happening when I am eating or drinking--it's at random times throughout the day. As far as I can tell from my self-diagnosis, it's hurting whenever I expose it to air: by breathing in and out through my mouth, smiling, or speaking.
I've also experienced a MASSIVE shift in my bite that seemed to occur overnight, about 1-2 weeks after getting the filling. Weirdly, it's not the tooth with the filling that's changed--that tooth doesn't even touch any of my other teeth when I bite down. But I can feel my front teeth knocking together when I close my mouth, and I sometimes have problems getting my molars to line up.
I also occasionally feel an intense itching or restless feeling, like I need to chew something extremely crunchy to relieve it. And I've detected a slightly salty taste in my mouth around where that tooth is. Oh, and for the first week after getting the filling, it wasn't smoothed down AT ALL--it was a jagged mess. Now, it IS smoothed out, but I can still clearly feel the edges of the filling each time my tongue touches that tooth, and it's hard to avoid a front tooth with your tongue.
Now, the dentist says that there is NO WAY the filling caused the sensitivity or the other problems. I got a second opinion, and that dentist said the filling was probably unnecessary and sloppily done (he could also immediately detect the edges of the filling when he did the exam), but he doesn't think it could be causing the sensitivity since (in his words) they didn't numb me with a shot when doing the filling, so they didn't etch my tooth. In fact, both dentists say the tooth appears perfectly healthy. I asked if it was possible there could be food getting trapped under the filling, and he said no. But he could not explain the pain I'm experiencing or how to make it go away. He said it could be referred pain, but that doesn't help me much.
I should emphasize that I experienced NO PAIN OR SENSITIVITY in this tooth before the filling went in. I have receding gums, so sensitivity is nothing new for me, but I'm used to only hurting at meal times, not ALL DAY.
Any clue what could be happening or how I can treat it? Also, is it worth asking again to see if they can smooth out the edges?
