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Still feeling sore after filling

V

VolatileVoid

Junior member
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
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Hi -

I'm a first-time poster, but have lurked for a few days now. It seems like people are genuinely helpful here, so I hope someone can offer some advice. :)

The Neverending Story of a Molar
About 5-6 months ago, I went to my dentist with some annoying pain in my upper left molar (#14, from what I can tell by looking at charts online). He found that the filling was loose and replaced the composite filling with an amalgam. His general feeling was that composites don't do such a great job on back teeth (he wasn't the dentist that originally put in the composite filling - but that's a story for another time), and he much prefers amalgams on them.

I had some problems with that filling -- it didn't seem to want to settle down, and was always sensitive to cold -- but I ignored it for a few months. I went to go see my dentist again last Wednesday because that tooth had been bothering me for a few weeks. It wasn't terrible pain, but it was noticeable and it was bothering me.

He took some X-Rays, saw no sign of infection. Did a percussion test by tapping on the tooth, no pain. Blew cold air in the pocket between #14 and #13, and found the problematic spot. At the same time he spotted a small cavity in #15. (Incidentally, at the same time, he found a very small cavity in #31 as well).

He decided that since the filling in #14 was still bothering me, he'd redo the filling. He also filled #15 and #31.

He filled all the cavities with amalgam fillings.

Since then I've been sore. It's not just sensitivity to cold - but also just a general feeling of soreness, or the occasional throb of pain from the top of my mouth (where he filled 14 and 15). He did mention that I might be sore and that that's normal, but I'm getting concerned that an infection may be forming.

I really do trust this dentist a lot. I've had some really awful experiences where dentists would change perfectly good fillings because they were amalgams, or do more work than was necessary. One dentist did so on a very large filling and wound up causing an abscess. The dentist I use now is very conservative and tries to avoid doing any unnecessary procedures whenever he can.

Is it normal to have soreness and spontaneous pain from recently filled teeth? How soon would it go away?

I am seeing this dentist on this coming Monday (the 9th) for a general checkup and cleaning, but I'm nervous about running into horrible pain before then...

Thanks!
:)
 
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It's not unusual to have sort of achey feelings in teeth that have been filled, it's part of the way amalgam sets, it shrinks a little bit at first and then expands. Sometimes this can cause slight sensations, sometimes not.
 
It's not unusual to have sort of achey feelings in teeth that have been filled, it's part of the way amalgam sets, it shrinks a little bit at first and then expands. Sometimes this can cause slight sensations, sometimes not.
Thanks for responding.

I was wondering how long this usually lasts? That tooth is still kind of sore -- and it's been nearly 4 weeks. It's somewhat sensitive to cold (although the sensitivity doesn't linger), not sensitive to heat, but it does hurt spontaneously at times.

I want to emphasize that the pain isn't terrible. It's moderate. But it's really bothering me because it gives me headaches at times, and it's troubling as well, because I shouldn't still be in pain (I don't think?).

I feel silly going back to my dentist -- I've been back and forth from his office multiple times over the past few months about this tooth and another molar (on the other side) which is also bothering me with similar, spontaneous pains. Both were filled with amalgam. Every time I go, he finds nothing amiss with the teeth. I wish I could just get this solved by now and go on with life, without having to constantly stress about these two teeth. :(

Sorry for venting; just feel frustrated and stressed...
 
It might be worth having the bite checked really carefully on them, if the bite's a bit off it would cause some symptoms a bit like you described.
 
It might be worth having the bite checked really carefully on them, if the bite's a bit off it would cause some symptoms a bit like you described.
Thanks for responding. Would it cause both the top and bottom teeth to be sore? Because right now my top and bottom molars (I guess?) are feeling sore.
I'm only feeling spontaneous pain from the top teeth, though. I should note that when I say "spontaneous" I mean it comes suddenly, lasts for 10 minutes or so, then fades, but does not seem to be exacerbated* by anything (like chewing or what have you).

* Except for when I chew on something really hard, like hard candy. But even then, it's not so much pain as it is a feeling of soreness or "fullness" in the aforementioned top molars.


Either way - thanks for responding. I hope I'm not boring anyone with my woeful teeth tales! :o
 
Yes, if you think about it, both upper and lower teeth would be upset if the bite is too high...
 
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