Please help! constant pain in fillings and completely terrified of the dentist!

[Beth.D]

Please help! constant pain in fillings and completely terrified of the dentist!

Hi everybody, I just joined up as I am so desperate for help.
I am completely terrified of the dentist and have been from the age of about 14 when I had a small silver coloured filling put in, it hurt a lot afterwards, I was told by the dentist at the time that this was normal and nothing to worry about. It hurt constantly and eventually went bad under the filling, so my dentist replaced it.

This time it hurt even more. I then completely avoided dentists again till I was 17 and by this point the tooth was less painful than it had been but I still couldnt chew that side or brush properly that side as it hurt too much.
At 17 the tooth was visibly discoloured and still tender. I was too frightened to go through with any treatment on it so did not keep my next appointment.
At 23 I went to the dentist and she looked at all my teeth and told me that most likely I would need the tooth removed. She also told me I needed a small filling done on the opposite lower side.
I spoke to my doctor who prescribed me diazepam to take before I went for my filling, I was still terrified, still cried a lot and it was awful. Now it has been a year and the new small silver filling still hurts badly. Infact worse than the older bad tooth. I dont want it to end up like my other tooth (that I still have had no treatment on and didnt dare get removed).
I'm too scared to go back but it is so painful.

I take painkillers for it and have done for a while but they really dont help at all anymore.

I brush my teeth at least twice a day and the rest of my teeth are in ok shape, it's just the ones that have had treatment on keep on getting so much worse and hurting so much.

Many thanks for reading

Beth

 

[carole]

Re: Please help! constant pain in fillings and completely terrified of the dentist!

I don't have the answer for you, but the first filling seems as if it might not have been done properly. As the tooth being sensitive has happened a second time with another filling, could it be that you cannot have the amalgam fillings and need to have a white filling.

You should not be in pain like this and I hope a dentist on here comes along soon with something you could try. I think your own dentist should investigate this problem for you.

I just wanted to answer you so that you didn't think nobody was reading your thread.

If it were me I would go back to the dentist and ask to try a white filling to see if that is any better. I would also have the other tooth out if it cannot be saved. If you need support to be able to do this we will be happy to tell you of our experiences and try and address your worries about having the tooth removed.

Ask your dentist if it has to be removed or if there would be anything else that could be done, with the tooth.

I wish you well and hope you can get the courage to contact your dentist again, or find a dentist that you feel you could work with, and makes you feel comfortable.

 

[Beth.D]

Re: Please help! constant pain in fillings and completely terrified of the dentist!

Thank you so much for the reply. I didnt think anybody would.
I've actually been reading articles as well as posts on the forum of this website for a long time, I was too scared to post before because I thought people would just assume I hadnt looked after my teeth and I was so embarrassed as I do take care of them.

I had the one original filling (on the now very bad tooth) replaced several times due to the pain when I was around 14, but it became more and more painful and each time it just didnt help. I think this is where the fear has come from as every time I dreaded the needle and then I dreaded the numbness wearing off because I knew it would hurt so badly again.

I'm disabled and cannot really afford private dental care and I once asked if they could use a white filling at an NHS dentist and they told me it would be very costly and on that occasion I didnt go back from fear and being worried about the bill.

I have never had a regular dentist due to long gaps between going and they took me off their patient books. Also because I had cancelled appointments for actual treatment days before due to being so worked up and frightened about it.

It's getting so bad I'm now struggling to chew at all and have no "bite" due to there being one filling on each side. Before I used to just chew on my good side.

I have been looking at the tooth with the new filling in and it looks completely ok, I cant see anything wrong with it at all but it hurts when brushed or touched again just like the last one. It doesnt feel loose so I have no idea why it would be hurting like this.

Thanks you so much for the reply I just dont know where to go or what to do

 

[jellyfish]

Re: Please help! constant pain in fillings and completely terrified of the dentist!

I had something similar happen last year, when the dentist replaced some old (painless) amalgam fillings with composite. Four of my teeth had pain that never went away, I couldn't eat anything but soup and pudding for months until we started to get it straightened out.

Hopefully a dentist will chime in, but I will say:

One thing that worked on one of my teeth was to take out the painful filling and put in a temporary sedative filling. The sedative filling helps the nerve in the tooth to calm down, but the filling does not last very long and needs to be replaced with a permanent filling. If your tooth still hurts with the sedative filling, then you will likely need different treatment on the tooth. This may not be a good option if you want to avoid repeat visits to the dentist, since you really can't keep the temporary filling for long.

There are also 'linings' that help to prevent sensitivity that the dentist can put under the filling, for both amalgam and composite fillings. Some dentists like to use these, and some don't, but you can always ask. I am not in the UK, so I don't know what NHS does.

Sometimes the nerve inside the tooth gets angry when the tooth is worked on, or if the filling is close to the nerve. The size of the nerve shrinks with age, so younger people have nerve pulp that can be close to a smaller filling. If the nerve starts to swell up, it can hurt a lot because it is trapped in the tooth and doesn't have room to swell, like if you stuck your finger in a vise.

Also - have hope! I am now pain-free in all four of the problem teeth, although it took a bit of work to get here. The dentist can't make your tooth worse than it is now, right?

 

[carole]

Re: Please help! constant pain in fillings and completely terrified of the dentist!

I had a deep filling some years ago and the dentist put a protective lining in before the filling as jellyfish has suggested. It worked as well, because the filling was really close to the nerve. I also am NHS and cannot afford to pay private, some dentists do now do white fillings on the nhs but I don't know if yours does.
I would go back and see what they say, you really shouldn't be in pain, maybe what jellyfish has said might be the answer.

I wish you well, please do contact the dentist, you don't need the pain.
Best wishes