Yesterday I went to a dentist because I had bitten down on something hard that was causing a lot of pain when chewing.

He took an x-ray and said that the filling on the affected tooth was half gone and needed to be replaced. He replaced the filling (with the old-fashioned silver kind). He told me I would have no pain and could chew normally as soon as the novacaine wore off.

Well, it's now the day after the procedure and I still can't chew on that side without a great deal of pain. Is this normal? My husband has had a lot of work done on his teeth and he said that it takes a while for a tooth to "settle down" after having been worked on. He said it was wrong for the dentist to have told me I would have no pain whatsoever afterward. How long should I wait before I call the dentist back? I don't want to be a baby if this pain is just a normal reaction to having the drilling work done.

A reply would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Gidget