Sharp pain on composite filling

[alex1515]

Background: I got a cavity filled in a month and a half ago. White composite. The cavity was on a back molar on the side, close to the gumline. At first the whole tooth was sensitive to heat/cold and pressure when i ate.

I went back to my dentist a month ago and he adjusted it becasue of the bite problem. He told me to use sensodyne to see if the sensitivity goes away....which it did. so now i have little temp pain and no pressure pain.

However when i touch the side of the tooth, where the filling is, i feel a very sharp pain that last for a split second.
to be more specific, i can poke with my fingernail the filling and it only hurts at a specific point. if i move my finger nail slightly off this point but still on the filling i don't feel the sharp pain.

i went back two weeks ago and the dentist said i might need a root canal if it does not get better in a week.

I am really confused of why this pain is happening...and i am very scared of a root canal. And if i do need one they are going to give me one whether i wait 1 week or a month or longer right?

So i guess i am wondering why this pain is happening and second if it is a bad idea to wait it out while hoping.

 

[alex1515]

Actually i just remembered....before i got the filling i would get the same type, but less severe pain when i pushed with my fingernail where the cavity used to be.

i had this sensation that i was pushing in the tooth and thats why it hurt...although i am probably not.

i get the same sensation when i push on the filling, like it is being depressed slightly..although i doubt it is.


this is sooo confusing

 

[Bosno]

I had a root canal a year ago with just regular needle anesthetic and did not feel a thing. Maybe it was a good dentist but I felt more when I had cavities filled before than I did with root canal.

 

[Zzzdentist]

Um, stop pushing on the filling? You don't mention any ache, and you say the chewing pain is gone sooooOOOooooOOOooo maybe just leave it be and see if it settles down over time? I find that some dentists unfortunately tend to default to the "if it doesn't settle down, we'll have to do a root canal" solution without a whole lot of effort in the diagnosis department.

It's sort of like saying hmmm if that heart pain doesn't go away, we might have to do a heart transplant before doing more investigation.

You might be pressing along the enamel/filling margin which might have a slight exposed spot that could explain the sensitivity. It's hard to say. One other possbility might be that a certain part of the filling isn't completely cured so slight pressure in a specific direction might be creating micro-movement in the filling causing a response in the tubules. Or it could be perfectly cured, but due to flexure in that direction it's illicting a response.

I wouldn't worry too much about it unless it gets worse, is creating a problem, or affects your ability to eat. If the filling is fine otherwise, sometimes the nerve can compensate and shield off the sensitive area.