Monday afternoon I got a filling on a back tooth top left side and a filling on a back tooth bottom left side. The dentist thought we'd get away with both fillings without injectable anesthesia. We got the bottom one done that way, no problem. But the top tooth wasn't so great so we paused so he could get me the shots to numb it all up and then we proceeded and all seemed well and good. Eating supper that night after the anesthesia wore off, the top tooth that had been filled got a sharp pain when I bit down on food on that side of the mouth. Bottom one was alright. No pain of any kind when just biting down top jaw to bottom jaw. Now it's Thursday and I don't really get the same "pressure pain" when chewing on the left side, but if I DO chew using the left side, after going at it for a few minutes I start to get an aching and throbbing pain that lasts for longer than I like. (Yesterday, almost three hours). Now I understand you're inclined to say, "quit chewing on your left side", and yes, I get that, but I also can't do that forever and if this is normal I need to be able to see when it gets better. So. IS this normal? IS this something that ought to go away within a certain timeframe? Or do I need to get ahold of my dentist now and tell him to have a look and fix whatever might have gone wrong? Thanks!
Based on nothing more than personal opinion, it never hurts (no pun intended) to follow up with a provider post-procedure. They expect it and generally welcome it. I'd give the dentist a call before the weekend.
I've always had sensitivity for a few days, especially to cold, but never throbbing pain that lasts for that long.
I had SUPER DUPER cold sensitivity in my fillings for YEARS afterward. Not normal ice ache, like licking a battery times ten. Yeah, it could take a while to calm down.
Sounds like the nerve in that spot got a little sensitized. If you stick to soft foods for a week or so it should calm down, but as mentioned it never hurts to have the dentist check it out for you.
You should call your dentist if you're concerned. I don't think any of us are remotely qualified to give you advice, unless someone is secretly a dentist.
I am a dentist, yes. A bit of sensitivity and discomfort is normal for a day or two but if you are having lingering pain then definitely see the dentist again. That doesn’t sound right. The filling could be ‘high’ meaning there is some excess filling material that is throwing off your bite and that can be very painful but is easily fixable. A quick adjustment and you may feel perfectly fine afterwards. However it could also be that the upper tooth had a very deep cavity, in close proximity to the nerve tissue or pulp chamber. In that case you may need a root canal if the pain does not subside. If you go back to the dentist for a follow-up ask if they could take an x-Ray to see what’s up. Some people, just in general, have very sensitive teeth (especially to cold) so I try to recommend Sensodyne toothpaste and occasionally swishing with warm water and baking soda. Listerine also has a new product out which specifically is meant for sensitive teeth (but does not kill germs like regular Listerine). EDIT: If it ONLY hurts when you bite down but not in any other case (like at night or just spontaneously during the day) then a high filling is likely. One easy way to check at home... when your teeth come together does it feel like your left side closes before your right side? Ideally you want all your teeth to occlude evenly. Slight discrepancies can cause a surprising amount of discomfort.
Do four out of five dentists recommend Sensodyne? They do have a good product line - my wife swears by Sensodyne.
Sorry, I didn't mean to abandon this thread. I did go back to the dentist on Thursday the 15th. He was very surprised that I was in such pain because the cavities he filled were very tiny. He checked my bite again, and then basically filed each filling down a bit then put sealer(???) over them until the bite was high again, then filed the sealer down until the bite was acceptable. For what it's worth, I was never able to tell that there was anything wrong with the bite height. Everything felt "normal" to me. Anyway, since that time, there's been vast improvement. However I still have immediate sensitivity to cold. The pain does wear off semi-quickly (within a few minutes anyway) but it's left me really gun-shy about chewing on my left side, which stinks because I've been a "left side chewer" for as long as I can remember. It still feels "weird" to bite down on things that are hard or crunchy, but it doesn't necessarily hurt. In fact if I am chewing on something that is basically "mouth temperature" and not too hard or crunchy, I can chew perfectly fine with my left side teeth and have no pain. But if it's a little too cold, a little too hot, or a little too hard, it's not fun. When I have my one-month follow-up from the deep cleaning on May 6th, I'll mention my lingering issues and request an X-ray.
I just vowed to quit eating ice cubes forever, and then accidentally ate one absent-mindedly 5 years later, and realized it didn't hurt anymore.
Hopefully it will get progressively less sensitive over time. If they were not deep cavities I wouldn’t expect you to have a lot of post-operative discomfort... but some people have sensitive teeth just in general. Sometimes there are microscopic gaps between the filling and the tooth which could contribute to the sensitivity so he probably used a bonding agent or sealant to fill in the gap. But, yeah, if it keeps bothering you the next step would be an x-ray. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions although you may need to catch my attention in this thread since I never log in unless I have something I want to post (which is rare).
Thank you very much! I might add that this dentist I've begun seeing is very highly rated and I feel like I got excellent care. It just didn't really go "my way" so to speak. I'll PM you if anything changes or I need more advice. Thanks again for the kind offer.
Oh, I ate a huge Philly Cheesesteak with fries for lunch today. I deliberately used my left side teeth as much as possible to chew to see what was up. The fries made me feel weird eveny time I bit down (they were very crisp, Forefather's Cheesesteaks has amazing fries). But the sandwich I had no problem at all chewing. It wasn't terribly hot, which helped. After lunch, my left side of my mouth "felt weird" (best I can describe) for about 10 or 15 minutes then felt better. On Monday night my wife and I had ice cream. I tried shielding my left-side teeth with my tongue every time I took a bit. Once in awhile some random cold would hit that side and it would hurt sharply for a moment then get better.
It seems like something is not right, to be honest. If you are still having noticeable discomfort or pain this far out from the procedure that doesn’t sound normal. Definitely go back for another follow-up or maybe get a second opinion from another dentist if you are uncertain about this one. It might not be anything he did but I can’t say for certain.
Since I already have a follow-up appointment on Thursday next, I'll see if I can hold off until then. To be fair, there was a MASSIVE improvement after that second appointment I mentioned above. I was taking 600 to 800 mg of Advil 2x per day before that 2nd visit, and none since.
I've been getting a little bit better every day actually. Had my follow-up appointment yesterday. Got a "mini-cleaning" as my first follow-up post the scaling and root planing. Spoke to the actual dentist about my residual sensitivity / pain and he did a little "point adjustment" of my lower filling, filing off tiny bits. I think that MIGHT have been enough to put me "over the finish line". I didn't have any real discomfort after that, and this morning everything seems fine still. So, hopefully I am good to go now. I didn't even feel anything when I drank (rather) cold water this morning or (rather) hot coffee.
I just drank some icy cold water and swished it against the teeth that were bothering me. No problem at all.
A female soldier I knew back in the day tried to get me to chew aluminum foil but I wouldn't do it. She was giggling about it so I imagine it would mess me up or otherwise make me look goofy. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened. But I won't chew it now without her with me to see my reaction - it just wouldn't be the same.
My guess is the dissimilar metals in a non-pH neutral environment create a flow of electrons that dance on the tooth nerves. Try it and get back to us.
I'm just about totally better now. No more "pain" or sensitivity to hot or cold. But if I chew something hard and the fragment goes directly between the two teeth's fillings (I had fillings in tooth #15 and tooth #18) then I feel a sudden uncomfortable pressure, but not "pain" per se.
