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Pain During Filling Appointment

C

Carrie0930

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
21
Yesterday I got my first of four fillings. This filling was deep, the deepest I've ever had. I feel like it was one of the deepest the dentist ever filled either. He gave me Novocaine and said I should let him know if it was uncomfortable. And it was pretty uncomfortable and after 10 minutes I said something and by then he was done. He said it was probably so uncomfortable because it was so close to the nerve. Like, it was so close that he had to use hand instruments to get some of the decay out because if he used the drill all of the way he would have broken through to the nerves.

Anyways, this is the first filling I ever had that hurt afterwards. It hurt a bunch when the Novocaine wore off and I took a few Tylenol for that. Now today, it doesn't hurt regularly and it's fine if I bite on it, but if I chew food or if I put pressure on the tooth with my finger it hurts. Is this normal for a filling so deep?

I am just nervous where it was so close to the nerve. I am hoping the discomfort will subside in a week or two and I will be able to chew on that side again.
 
It doesn't matter how close to the nerve it is, they should still be able to get it properly numb....so sorry to hear you had a bad experience. Put your hand up next time as soon as you feel discomfort during drilling would be my advice. Don't put up and shut up, you are paying the going rate for an anaethetised procedure.
 
I posted a few weeks back about a filling I had done. Anyways, I had discomfort during that procedure while they were drilling and removing the decay. I had another extremely deep filling done today. It was so deep that the dentist said when he finished he could see pink and could basically see through the tooth. Anyways, I got the Novocaine via the wand and then when they started drilling it hurt immediately (more than last time). He stopped and asked me where my mouth was numb and I basically indicated that whole section of my face was numb and he said that he didn't know what would be causing it then because I was numb all over. He scraped some out by hand and then went back to drilling and it felt a lot better. However, when he cleaned out certain parts, with one particular drill and then hand instruments on one side of the tooth it hurt. I didn't say anything because I know I felt pretty numbed up and would honestly just rather get it over with. I was just wondering when you get Novocaine does the whole tooth numb, including the roots? And does anyone have any idea why I would feel pain/discomfort after being numbed if my whole part of the face was numb? I was wondering if maybe since it was so deep that the nerves on that tooth had been agitated and were inflamed even though I have only had sporadic toothaches in that tooth.
 
Doesn't sound right to me...what's the point in having TheWand if you don't use it to top up anaesthetic as required? Sorry it went that way..personally would not have been happy with that experience and hope I wouldn't have toughed it out like you did the second time..I understand why you did though since he didn't seem to have a clue....he probably just needed to re-inject in a slightly different place


Sorry yes the whole tooth should be numb...'comfortably numb' means no pain whatsoever I promise...you need the dentist to be aiming for this too though and yours wasn't...twice...time to change I think.
 
But I would have thought that since that entire part of my face was numb that I should have been completely numb. I have heard that the lower part of the tooth is more difficult to numb and was wondering if that could have been a reason. The only deep work I've had done other than these two fillings is a root canal and I had about a hundred Novocaine injections for that due to an infected tooth. I thought the Wand was pretty foolproof with this kind of a thing, since it is done by machine.
 
In fact, I am wondering why the tooth hurt immediately, since I know of some people who have had small cavities filled without Novocaine, so I just find it strange that it would hurt the instant drilling started. Now that I think about it, I recall one other dentist appointment, about 10 years ago and that was bothersome but I didn't ask for more Novocaine. That was at another dentist. I am pretty sure it isn't that the dentist is bad because everyone I know who goes to him raves about how much they love him.
 
You may have slightly different anatomy as per that link as one of the causes but TheWand in itself is not foolproof, it's more that patients don't mind multiple uses since it is so comfortable.
It does allow single tooth anaesthesia though/infiltration/PDL injections which can get 'hard to numb' teeth numb more easily but a dentist has to want to exploit its uses, just purchasing the thing will not do the trick and just one dose which is all you said you had will not necessarily always be enough.
If 'hard to numb' patients always just 'put up and shut up' dentists think they don't have a problem when they do...and so the phobia cycle continues.
 
I wanted to followup from my post of a few days ago.

As a quick recap I got a deep cavity filled a few weeks ago and felt discomfort at some parts of the procedure but it wasn't too bad. This week I had another deep one filled and it was worse but not unbearable. The first was on the upper right and the second was on the bottom right. When I came on here I was told this shouldn't happen and you should always be completely numb. Although when I asked my mother about it she said it was normal on deep fillings and it has happened to her before. I am just curious about why it happened since it was two separate spots in my mouth and when it was on the bottom my jaw and tongue was numb so I don't understand why my tooth wouldn't be entirely if there was a block injected there. I faintly recall experiencing discomfort at a filling 10 years ago and was wondering if I might have trouble with deep ones. How are dentists supposed to tell you are numb anyways? I have this vision of going for an extraction, having my face feel numb, having the tooth pulled and being in excrutiating pain.

I was also wondering, the first deep filling I had was about three weeks ago. It bothered me a lot for over a week. Could not chew and had to use a straw to take drinks. It got better but now it is bothering me a little. Not all the time but if I push hard on the tooth I get twinges and sometimes during the day (not all the time) I get very slight throbs of pain. I am nervous that I am going to have to have a root canal (especially with my recent troubles getting numb). I should only mention that I got my second deep filling on Monday and that tooth feels the same as the one I had done three weeks ago even though the tooth on the top felt much worse initially.
 
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Not a dentist, but it sounds like your nerves probably follow some unusual paths or something so that the normal blocks don't quite work, especially since your mother has had the same problems. Some other people here have this sort of thing going on. I'd think you need to find a dentist who knows some of the more unusual techniques for blocks, because you should not be hurting during a filling, deep or not.

ETA: I thought this was the beginning of a thread! Anything I said was said above. Oops. I hope you find a dentist who can work with you on this, though.
 
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But I would have thought that since that entire part of my face was numb that I should have been completely numb. I have heard that the lower part of the tooth is more difficult to numb and was wondering if that could have been a reason. The only deep work I've had done other than these two fillings is a root canal and I had about a hundred Novocaine injections for that due to an infected tooth. I thought the Wand was pretty foolproof with this kind of a thing, since it is done by machine.

Shouldn't feel it - as you shouldn't feel a root canal (root filling). Which is well and truly *the lower part of the tooth*. I had a root canal done on an infected tooth last year - and honestly did not feel a thing.

I'd look for another dentist.;)
 
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