Please don't be angry!It is very common for a tooth to be sensitive after a filling-especially a tooth colored one.Your nerve may be"upset" after all that work and needs some time to calm down.Usually the tooth recovers and is just fine.I doubt if you see another dentist they'll do anything different.Did your dentist advise you to take any otc pain meds??If so,take them and be patient.Good luck!!!

I am a dental assistant, and I too have had that same problem after a filling. Mine too was a tooth colored filling, called a composite. After several months of a lot of cold and pressure sensitivity, and after getting the bite adjusted, another dentist friend of mine removed the old filling and put another in with a soothing agent in the base of the new filling. I had so much relief! To this day, my friend and I think that there was a bubble that was trapped in the filling material while they were curing it. The concept is that the dentist will etch your tooth with an acid material to make the area more pourous so that the material will bond better. The dentist then places a clear coat of bonding agent in the tooth prep, and shines a uv light on it to cure it. Then he places the filling, which is a gummy tooth color matched to your tooth color. If it is a big filling, it is customary to "cure" in several layers to avoid getting a bubble. If the dentist placed the material in one big glob, then you might have gotten a bubble in the material, and from my experience is not good. If you are still hurting, go back to your dentist and suggest an x-ray to check the root of the tooth to make sure that it isn't dying (needs a root canal) if not, have him just replace the filling with a sedative in the base of it. Good luck! Jenn jenn

I had a white filling put in and it was painful for about 6 mths.I took advil.It finally went away.My kids have had white fillings which came out and had to be refilled

I have the same problem with both a bottom and top tooth. I have a lot of cold, heat and pressure sensitivity. I've gotten the bite adjusted, and acid placed on the fillings but nothing has helped. I've gone back to the dentist three times already and still have not felt relief. They took x-rays and said everything looks fine. The dentist just keeps telling me to go back if I still have pain and honestly i'm sick of it. I dread going to the dentist and have been putting up with the pain to avoid going there and take the time out of my busy schedule to go. I think this is a bad problem out there with filling replacements and would like to encourage everyone with the same problem to post a message so we can truly see how bad it is and begin an investigation. Dentists are making money replacing good existing fillings and creating new problems. Please post something if you're experiencing pain after a replacement of an old filling for a new clear/white filling.

A small percentage of people cannot tolerate the tooth colored material.There is no way to tell who will be sensitive.Most people will choose the resin(white) over an amalgam(silver) filling,if given a choice.If your dentist did not tell you all the pros and cons of both materials before the procedure.That is something that should have been done.I am sorry that you think that all dentists are shady characters,but most are ethical and err on the conservative side of treatment.I have worked in the dental field for 17 years and have seen many situations.If your filling was replaced because of your old filling breaking down(they do not last forever!!!),your nerve may be reacting to the treatment.Sometimes,the white filling needs to be replaced with a silver filling,if the sensitivity does not subside.If there was deep decay under the old filling,that ,in combination with the tooth colored filling can leave you with sensitivity for several months.If your dentist did not tell you this,that is something you need to discuss with him/her.I know that this situation is frustrating for you,but please be patient.You did not say how long you had the filling done,but I am assuming it was recently.Please do not give up on dentists,for the most part,they are just trying to do the best job they can!!!Patty

I also have been having a lot of trouble with the white fillings that where put in on tuesday. When the novocain started to wear off there was a lot of pain in the gum beside the tooth that was filled, I assume that it had just been bumped by the drill or something while the dentist was working on my teeth. Anyway, now my jaw is swollen, I can hardly talk let alone eat. ( no big loss there haha!) I also have extreme pressure in the teeth that where filled. I am going to wait it out till monday, and hope that I don't have an infection of some sort. But I am not going to hold my breath. But the dentist never gave me the choice of silver or white fillings. He also never said anything about the pro's and con's of either. Anyway, I am pretty frustrated about the whole thing since I have to go back in 2 weeks and have some more work done before I go in and have my wisdom teeth removed.
Anyway, I guess I am just venting and letting you know that you aren't alone. I hope that they get it all taken care of for you!!

Ouch!!!Mandy,don't go all weekend in pain!Call up your dentist and see if you can get in tomorrow!Good luck to you.Patty

I got 2 of my front teeth filled about a month ago, the dentist told me the pain would last a week, about a week ago, the left side of my face swole up so bad I couldn't talk, or eat, and I could hardly open my eye. I went to the emergency room several times, they told me only the dentist could do something about it, I was told I had an absess tooth, or something to that sort. Basically I have an infection in my gums and tooth, however the meds they have me on, $100 for 8 pills of antibiotics and the vikidon, aren't working all that well, the swelling is getting worse and if the infection moves into my jaw bone they'll have to surgically remove the infected bone, let it heal, take a piece of my hip bone, shape it and place that where my jaw bone should be. The pain is unreal, i'm wondering if there's anyway I could take the dentist to court, to make him either pay for the work that as done, and the work tht will be doen to fix what he did. If theres a chance in me winning if I try to sue him. I've had over 5 different prescriptions, been to the emergency room several times, and now i'm heading back to the dentist so they can tell me what isgoin on, i've lost a lot of money over a careless dentist who spent the whole time he was filling my teeth flirting with his assistant. Guess i'm just venting

Hi, I am in the same boat and am so depressed and stressed that it has destroyed my work productivity and social life.

I went for a cleaning last month, the dentist recommended replacing a silver filling on the bottom left molar which I had for like 10 years, and then he said he would fix a filling he did earlier on the top right molar, where food was getting stuck.

I decided to go for it, he replaced the silver filling and did a new filling on the top right molar.

This messed my life up completely, I mean turned it upside down where I can't forgive myself for ever going.

The replacement filling which took out the silver and put the composite became sensitive when he did it last wednesday, so sensitive it hurt a lot, I went last thursday, did a bite adjustment, didnt help much. I went on monday, he did another bite adjustment didnt help.

Then I went this past wednesday (two days ago), he replaced teh filling, and the right filling was feeling high, so he grinded it down, but now it got grinded so down, that my last molar top and bottom make contact and hurt like crazy.

I mean a crazy throbbing pain on the bottom molar, the last one, and when I close my jaw it sends a sharp sensation throughout that side. This tooth is fine, didnt even touch it during the procedures, which makes me believe that this pain is because of a contact due to the other tooth being grinded down.

Now, it's friday, and am going to wait till monday to visit the dentist, but what do I do? I hate myself for ever going, I can't get over the emotional trauma, I just want my teeth to go back to normal feeling and not require any extensive work.

What should I tell the dentist, to redo the filling on the right hand side, instead of messing with the bite size for the last molar. My fear is if he decides to do a bite adjustment on the last tooth which is hurting, he might mess it up more, because it was fine all along.

Please help.

Thank you.

I was nine months pregnant when I went to get my teeth worked on, so when I got hot, cold and presure sensitivity I blamed it on my depleted calcium but a thousand glasses of milk and four months later I was still experiancing just as much tooth sensitivity. I have had to give up some foods all together and still get piercing pain from many things I still eat or drink. I cannot try getting them looked at or redone due to my finances but I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who experianced this problem.

Hi all,
i attended the dentist with a hole in one of my back teeth on top and after three injections including a pallatel, the tooth was still not numb so my dentisit whom is brilliant decided to place a temporary filling in and allow the nerves to calm for a few weeks before proceeding. The temp filling required no drilling and was placed without incident. But as soon as the local wore off and I had some pizza, a very pronounced pain began and is still niggling away at me today, although less severe, but still I would call it pronounced. This is worse than the dull ache after hot or cold foods which was bothering me before I attended the dentist. I would really appreciate any accounts of similar experiences that you might have. :(

Well, i'm joining the ranks here with another bad experience!

:cry:

last year, my dentist recommend two fillings replaced with the newer composite fillings (i had the old metal fillings). I also had them on my upper teeth, but she would only do two. Well, no problems there, and I did not experience any problems. Then.

Fast forward to june 2005 and I am resigning my position from my former employer. Since my insurance was expiring too as a result, I attempted to get an appointment with my dentist, but was unable to. So, I went to another in san marino.

Well, this one saw the three remaining old fillings on my upper molars (1 on my right and two on my left) and suggested I replace them with new fillings. Since the procedure went well before, I decided to go for it and be metal free!

Mistake!!!!!

A day later, I was experiencing pain on all the teeth with newly replaced fillings. More on the right than the left, but painful nonetheless. Mostly when I chewed -- pressure related. And it hurt.

A week later, I had to go back and tell her that I was in great pain. She said she could drill down the high side on the left tooth, but did not feel the need to do the others (since most of the pain was on right). Well, nothing improved.

A month went by, and no real improvement. The dentist's only explanation, "maybe we do root canal."

:x

i decided to start taking some antibiotics I was prescribed some time ago -- erythromycin. After about two more weeks, I started feeling some relief on my right side where I had the filling filed down a bit. Maybe coincidence. However, on both sides, I was still feeling sensitivity to cold.

Well, it's october, and the right side is pretty much back to normal. But, that's not the end because two weeks ago, my left side cold sensitivity eventually increased to great pressure sensitivity. I mean bad, worse than the right. Now, it's unbearable.

I just started taking the erythromycin again along with some more active brushing, gargling, rinsing and vitamin c and e. I'm hoping that in a few days, I will see improvement. Unfortunately, I don't have dental insurance anymore, and am so frustrated with the new dentist, I just don't want to call her anymore since her reaction will probably be to do a root canal, or worse!

Unfortunately, it may be that the pain is indicative of a worse progression. I may need that root canal, or I may lose the tooth. But in either case, I may as well see if the antibiotics will kill off unseen bacteria, while the hydrogen peroxide rinses will kill off the surface bacteria. There's no pus or anything, just great pain when I bite down.

I'm sad, i'm scared. I faced worse accidents in the past, but when it comes to my teeth, i'm a real baby.

So for now, I am trying not to let my bottom teeth clip my top due to the pain it will induce. The area around the tooth root throbs and is dull, until I bit down, then it's sharp. Oh, and yesterday, the pain came on even without biting, and it was so awful. I started a huge cleaning regiment, and that ended, but today, I get the bit pressure problem and the dull pain.

So, i've rambled on long enough. Of course, hindsight tells me I would never do this again. I had no problems with the metal fillings, now i've created a new problem -- really, the dentist did. I wish I had not have had this new dentist touch me -- although it just didn't seem to me that any complications would result.

I'm giving this thing another week -- as low as my tolerance for pain, i'm hoping I can stop this on my own. Then, if things don't improve, i'll bite the financial bullet and see my dentist -- but get this, i"m so jaded now that i'm thinking that all dentists are concerned with is money! Damn. So frustrating.

My dentist told me that I would experience pain from my filling replacement because "everything was being all stirred up" and the tooth could get sick. What I didn't expect was my eye on the same side of my mouth to swell up. It is so swollen that I can't wear my contact lenses and it actually hurts. Do you think this is related to my filling replacement and is it normal?

I had my fillings done in feb. '04 on both upper 12-yr old molars. During the procedure, I don't think they gave me enough drugs because I was cringing the whole time during the fillings. Never do I remember it being that painful. That's when it all started. A week later, I went in and told them I was still in pain on my right side, so they reshaped the tooth thinking the bite was off and that it was a quick fix. Not so easy, and needless to say the pain never really went away. So I go back around april and they redid the filling only on right, since my left was fine. This time, the drugs really worked and didn't feel a thing during the filling. But yet again after the procedure it still didn't get better. I go back in the late summer and complain again about the pain. The dentist explained to me either we can redo it again or wait it out because he said those nerves get traumatized and may take up to 6 months to heal. So I said let's wait. Now about 1 or 2 months ago (oct.-nov.) my left side is now hurting after all this and I am so frustrated. I'm going to back in january for sure to get this fixed once again. The pain is so strange not only do I feel it when I eat (i've learned to eat with my front teeth) but I also feel it now when I take a brisk walk on the street - it throbs in pain every step I take. This is a serious issue. I want to be able to eat chips and not worry about any pain in mouth. I hope my dentist resolves this because after they do fix it and they better, i'm not going back to them. Thank you everyone for posting on here. I am so glad I am not alone in this serious problem we face.

I had two fillings replaced a week ago and i've had excrusiating pain since. Three advils every three hours. Tomorrow i'll go for root canal. If I didn't have these fillings replaced I would have been fine for who knows how long. Dr. Said probably around a year. I'm livid. Should have left well enough alone; Dr. Should have advised as such. $1700 and much much pain.

If it aint broke don't fix it doc.

I just went to the dentist this past week and was about to redo my fillings again. While I was getting ready for my cleaning, I spoke with the dental assistant about my continuing problems. She asked me if I grind my teeth. I thought about it for a moment and said yes, i've noticed that I do grind my teeth. The reason why i'm still experiencing pain is because the grinding is putting pressure on those teeth and it hasn't fully healed from the procedure. She said before doing any more fillings, I should try a night guard. She then told me to consider what they offer. ($600 w/o insurance coverage) whoa! Just to stop grinding my teeth? So I went home to contemplate it and decided to go to my local drug store and get one over the counter. I molded it to my teeth and have worn it for the past couple of nights and if anything, my jaws and mouth hurt more. I sure hope this helps in the long run. Although i've already noticed a difference when I eat though. I hope some might consider grinding as a possibility to why the pain still exists. I will post updates in the near future...

Wow I can't believe how many people are reporting this problem. Of course I too have had it, but I thought it was just me! Judging by the posts here, I don't see much of a solution for myself - but then again, my situation is nothing compared to the things i'm reading here.

So I just gotta vent anyway.

In june 2004, I went in to have routine checkup because I had not been to a dentist in a couple years. We did a cleaning, and he found a couple cavities. So he scheduled me to come back in and fill them. I thought "great! Getting my teeth in order, i'm so responsible".

I had two fillings, tooth-colored. Immediatley after, one of the fillings had a dull ache for awhile, I thought probably normal. But then I noticed that occassionally I would bite down on something hard, and if it just the right spot, ouch! I can't even duplicate the experience artificially, it only happens when I least expect it, on some minute portion of the tooth.

So I go back complaining, he says - exactly what every other dentist reported on this topic has said: sometimes the filling needs to settle, there might be a bubble, give it some time. He grinded itdown a little more.

Honestly, he was rushing me in and out, flirting with his assitants (they were hot, actually). I went back later for an unrelated cosmetic job to even out some teeth, and he rushed through it. When he was done, my mouth was all raw, and he takes the gloves off, starts walking around, preparing for the next patient, then he comes in and says "look ok?" that pissed me off. He was mentally on to the next thing, and asking me if I was happy was like an afterthought. He was a prick. I can't help but think he was just moving people in and out to maximize profits.

Anyway, I was moving my residence at that point, so I had to let it go. A year later, there is still the occassional pain when I bite down on something hard. It just ticks me off! I went in there to solve a problem, not to create a new one. I actually had no teeth problems before. Still the pain when I bite down, I have just learned to ignore it. Now I know there are others out there with the same issue.

Here in london I went to another dentist to have him look at it and tell me if things were ok, and he said the same thing! It takes some time to settle, bla, bla, bla. Well it's been a year and a half, and the dull pain is still there, and when I bite on something hard, ouch!

What a bummer. It doesn't make me trust dentists much.

I'll probably go back to the dentist again at some point to see again if he can do something. I sympathize so much with you people out there! Mouth pain is horrible!

Exactly how long is 'normal' for the dull ache in the tooth after a filling and all the hot and cold sensitivity?

I had 2 teeth filled 2 days ago and its still bothering me. I have to drink liquids and chew food on one side of my mouth. Its really bugging me, because I wasnt experiencing any pain or discomfort in the teeth before they were filled. I got them done because I wanted to be responsible and fix them. Kinda wish I hadnt bothered.

I'm due 3 more fillings on the other side and am worried that eating and drinking will become unbearable because of all the sensitivity.

Lucy, I know how you feel...I came on here because I got my first fillings ever yesterday and am having a lot of sentitivity, I wanted to know if its normal or not. I chose the white composite ones because of looks. I am hoping this goes away soon. I have to go next monday for 2 more fillings...I'm so nervous!!! I told my husband I just want to cancel the appt because of how this feels...I didn't feel any pain in any of my cavities, so why do I have to have them filled...I'm so nervous now for next week!!!