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Pain in jaw after filling and injections

H

Heather97615

Junior member
Joined
Jul 26, 2006
Messages
8
I had a filling done today (I wrote about it in the support forum). The actual procedure went very well. The dentist did take a long time to do it as it was a very large filling. He spent as much time working on shaping the filling as he did with the drilling. He had a little piece of paper and kept telling me to bite, then he'd scrape some of the filling off, then he'd tell me to bite onto the paper again, etc. And he finally ended up drilling off some of the top tooth that touches that bottom one, I guess to line up the bite. I have had MANY fillings and don't ever remember this happening or a dentist spending so much time on scraping down a filling. But this is also the largest filling I've ever had done, so that may have something to do with it.

Anyway, the feeling started returning to my face a few hours after I got home from the dentist. At first, all was well. But the later in the day, the more pain I started to feel in my jaw. Well, mostly, it's between the upper and lower jaw. It's now excruciating to open my mouth. I had some pain Monday-Wednesday after my last novocaine injections when the dentist cleaned out a cavity. But this is so much worse. I just don't know if it's normal or not. I can't eat. That doesn't matter today, as I am not supposed to be eating anyway (well, other than really soft foods). But if it's no better tomorrow, do you think I should call the dentist and request pain medication? Is this something dentists are willing to do? I am reluctant to take prescription meds, but in this case, I would do it because Tylenol and Ibuprofen just aren't cutting it.

If this is normal, please let me know. I've never experienced pain after a filling before; this is a first. And I have always received novocaine injections when getting work done. Do some dentists inject it differently than others? The dentist who did my filling today is one I'd not been to before Monday, so maybe it's just something about the way he injects it. I don't think it's the tooth causing the pain; it doesn't seem to be sensitive to hot or cold, and it's only mildly sensitive to pressure.

Thanks so much for any advice you can share with me!
 
I just want to update that I tried to call my dentist Friday, but his office was already closed for the day. I still have pain in my jaw but no pain in the tooth with the new filling. I cannot open my mouth very wide at all. It just stops and if I try to open it wider I feel a sharp pain in my jaw. Is this normal?
 
Hi Heather, it sounds as if the problem might be coming from your jaw joint, from keeping your mouth open for so long (you said it took 2 hours?). Freakout provided some good advice a while back, so I'll just quote her :): "It may be that your jaw joint is causing the pain, due to the stress of holding your mouth open for the procedure. You can try applying ice just in front of the ear to alleviate pain/inflammation. You can also apply warm moist compresses to the same area (if the ice doesn't help) the moist heat helps to relax the jaw muscles."

You can also take ibuprofen to help with the pain (or paracetamol, if you can't take ibuprofen, e.g. if you have asthma).

I'm not sure about the problem with opening your mouth. If you experience the same problem after wizzie removal, the advice is usually to gently keep stretching your mouth open to get it moving again (to prevent permanent limited opening). But I don't know if this is the same for the problem you're experiencing. So give your dentist a call tomorrow :)! (hopefully one of our resident dentists will be along in the meantime, but they're not always around over the weekends).
 
LC is correct in that most likely it's due to the jaw joint being open for so long. The muscles and joint can be sore for quite some time afterwards so painkillers or muscle relaxants can help for the time being. It could also be due to the anesthetic being injected into the area causing some trismis (not to be confused with Christmas) which should slowly resolve over time.

Unfortunately some longer dental and other procedures can take quite some time resulting in sore jaws. :whistle:
 
LC is correct in that most likely it's due to the jaw joint being open for so long. The muscles and joint can be sore for quite some time afterwards so painkillers or muscle relaxants can help for the time being. It could also be due to the anesthetic being injected into the area causing some trismis (not to be confused with Christmas) which should slowly resolve over time.

Unfortunately some longer dental and other procedures can take quite some time resulting in sore jaws. :whistle:

I had a temp crown put in three weeks ago and three days later I could hardly ope my mouth without terrible pain, the crown has been replaced and the pain remains as well as the inability to open my mouth all of the way. Any help or ideas out there folks?
 
I had a temp crown put in three weeks ago and three days later I could hardly ope my mouth without terrible pain, the crown has been replaced and the pain remains as well as the inability to open my mouth all of the way. Any help or ideas out there folks?
not very comforting being I am now working on four weeks and still cannot eat normally.
 
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