After Filling - Some Slight Pain Only When...

[MekaDFC]

I've put a link to the filling so people can get an idea of the before and after:

[broken link removed]

I went to the dentist recently (after facing all my fears and being depressed for a week and a half) and while the filling itself doesn't hurt normally whether it is cold, hot, or when not eating. But when I put a more than moderate amount of pressure on it, there is a very quick sharp pain that happens, then goes away almost immediately. I had the filling done about 5 days ago. I can eat things soft chicken and rice like 80-90% being careful to not biting down too hard without any pain, but things like chips or anything crunchy gives molar #19 a short shock of pain that quickly subsides. The bite seems to be the same looking at the pictures since most of the surface of the filling on the tooth appears to be lower than the original tooth, so I'm not sure if it would be a high filling.

Is it normal for the tooth to be sensitive after this long or should I wait it out a while longer? Also I noticed a good bit of tooth here was removed (gray circled) that didn't looked decayed or ever gave me problem. I was wondering if this was normal that something like this happens? It's just discomforting that I wasn't informed that that portion of the tooth was going to be removed. The circled gray portion is also where the sensitivity seems to be coming from, not where the black spot was. I tested this by tapping that grey portion moderately hard with my fingernail and felt the slight bit of pain there. Tapping with my fingernail on the upper filling edge (where black spot used to be) moderately hard I don't feel any pain or anything. I am very worried that they removed a bit too much tooth (some unnecessarily?) and that this sensitivity is permanent .

Anyone ever experience anything similar to this? Does it eventually go away because it is still healing? I appreciate any information anyone can give me on this. Before the filling the only minute pain I had was small yellow dot on the bottom right of the original tooth in the picture, but it never affected me chewing on chips, beef jerky, almonds, or any other hard foods prior to the filling.

 

[MekaDFC]

Just an update if anyone is still out there; if no one has any information, maybe at the very least I can keep updating to maybe help anyone else currently or in the future that may have these issues. I actually did have a slight bit of cold/hot sensitivity when I wrote the original post to this thread. Maybe I was trying to convince myself that I wasn't.

Anyways, a little over two weeks later, the sensitivity is similar, though it might be slightly less. I don't know it's hard to gauge. Chewing pressure still gives me issues on the tooth and I still can't really eat even slightly tough foods on that side (bacon, beef jerky, chips, crunchy breaded chicken strips, etc.). Eating soft foods is doable, but I have to be careful as I still get a small tinge of pain if I bite down even slightly hard in the wrong place even with soft foods.

Outside of that, the slight sensitivity kind of just comes and goes; maybe seems more prevalent after I eat or get stressed out about this? The sensitivity itself has never kept me up at night and I wouldn’t say it really hurts. It’s just a bit bothersome when I focus on it.

I can still grind my teeth as if I'm chewing moderately hard (not too hard though as to do any damage) with little to no issues. It just seems like on the lower portions of the filling, near the grey circled area and the center of the molar, is where the slight pain seems to come from. I’ve never bit into anything very hard though, so I don’t know how much it would actually hurt if I did that.

With ice cold water, there might be some heightened cold sensitivity, but I’m not sure I would call it pain, just a bit of discomfort. Ramen or Macaroni and Cheese, the most comfortable things I can eat with the tooth, do not seem to be an issue even though it's hot, but there might be slight sensitivity if it is very hot though. Similar to cold liquids it causes minor discomfort in the tooth when in contact, but quickly goes away after I finish chewing the food. The discomfort doesn't stop me from eating the food.

Maybe another week or so I may go back to the dentist if it doesn’t improve more, but I have slight regret getting this filling done. It probably needed to be done though. Going from almost no pain and eating normally (very crunchy foods and all) to the current situation I'm in is a bit depressing. I also wish I knew if removing more tooth than expected was normal, but I guess this isn't something people typically experience or know.

At this point, I’ve lost my appetite, it's always on my mind, and I've lost a lot of motivation . Thanks again for anyone that has read or will read this. Hopefully things will still improve for me. Sorry for rambling, this is just kind of an outlet for me.

 

[FearfulInMA]

I'm not a dentist, but it sounds like the filling may be a little bit 'high'. If this is the case, the dentist can shave it down just the slightest bit and you'd be amazed how much better it will make it. You likely would not be able to see if the filling is high just be looking at the tooth. Shaving down the filling is completely painless and can be done very quickly -- it will not require local anesthetic. If I were you, I'd call the dentist and have her/him take a look at the bite.

 

[MekaDFC]

I'm not a dentist, but it sounds like the filling may be a little bit 'high'. If this is the case, the dentist can shave it down just the slightest bit and you'd be amazed how much better it will make it. You likely would not be able to see if the filling is high just be looking at the tooth. Shaving down the filling is completely painless and can be done very quickly -- it will not require local anesthetic. If I were you, I'd call the dentist and have her/him take a look at the bite.

Thanks FearfulInMA for the reply,

I'm just a bit worried as it doesn't seem like the height of the filling is the issue. It seems to be percussion related. Like currently, just tapping moderately hard on the filling with my fingernail causes slight sensitivity pain. Guess a new thing I've tried is that I also scratch with my fingernail moderately hard on my tooth and also and get a bit of pain. Nothing that lasts though. As soon as I stop, the slight pain stops. Nothing that lingers or causes me any pain outside of when the pressure/percussion is taking place.

Also there is something I forgot about until recently. The dentist did say something about having to do a pulp cap (don't know what kind), so sadly, this probably heightens the chance that this is going to lead into something more serious.

So if the dentist shaves the filling down, I'd imagine tapping/scratching the filling will likely still cause the slight pain because of this. Again I appreciate the replies. I'll probably still update as things progress. Hopefully things will get better for me as opposed to worse. This still causes me to stress out daily and each day I have a little more regret in getting this done .

 

[drm]

I know that looking at the picture it doesn't necessarily look like they'd need to remove that much tooth structure but oftentimes the cavity will spread out far further underneath than you'd expect from just a surface look. I see this all the time in my practice.

A cavity big enough to need a pulp cap can take a good amount of time to settle down. Sometimes even 1-2 months for some people. Everyone is a little different. The other possibilities for your discomfort when chewing hard foods could be your bite being slightly off (as other people mentioned) or a bonding failure of the filling. Of the two, your bite being off is the most likely possibility. The bite being off would definitely cause the symptoms you're describing and an adjustment will often make it go away.

The first step would be to have your dentist take a look at your bite again. Ideally they'll check when you're biting straight down as well as when you grind your teeth in all different directions. Sometimes if the bite is off in a slightly different direction it can be hard to pick up initially and your bite might not necessarily feel "off".

 

[MekaDFC]

I know that looking at the picture it doesn't necessarily look like they'd need to remove that much tooth structure but oftentimes the cavity will spread out far further underneath than you'd expect from just a surface look. I see this all the time in my practice.

A cavity big enough to need a pulp cap can take a good amount of time to settle down. Sometimes even 1-2 months for some people. Everyone is a little different. The other possibilities for your discomfort when chewing hard foods could be your bite being slightly off (as other people mentioned) or a bonding failure of the filling. Of the two, your bite being off is the most likely possibility. The bite being off would definitely cause the symptoms you're describing and an adjustment will often make it go away.

The first step would be to have your dentist take a look at your bite again. Ideally they'll check when you're biting straight down as well as when you grind your teeth in all different directions. Sometimes if the bite is off in a slightly different direction it can be hard to pick up initially and your bite might not necessarily feel "off".

Thanks drm,

At least I can get a little piece of mind that his is a least a bit common to remove more tooth than expected. Though it is still a little discomforting that I wasn't informed on this and didn't even know about it until I got home.

I guess I'm still in that 1-2 month window as it has been a little over 3 weeks since I got the filling. I haven't gone back to the dentist yet, as I do feel like the discomfort is slowly getting better, at least with regards to cold/hot sensitivity.

I'm just not sure about the bite/chewing pressure pain that I am still feeling. At least if it is better, worse, or is the same. I usually check to see if it is still present by biting into slightly tougher foods and as of yesterday, I was still feeling the tinge of pain when biting slowly into anything even remotely crunchy: slightly crispy french fries, breaded chicken strips, and even strawberry seeds. When I don't bite on it, it almost feels normal now with little discomfort. Some days the tooth feels normal enough and I don't feel any pain (like today) that I want to test biting into something slightly crunchy to test it, but I've just been avoiding it in hopes that'll help it "heal" better if I just keep off of it.

I was tentatively holding off on going to the dentist till maybe after this weekend to see if things improve more.

Thanks again to anyone who has read this or has responded, it means a lot.