Hi,
well, about a month ago I went to a new dentist to get a cleaning done. The dentist said I had a cavity in my far bottom tooth and scheduled me in to get a filling done. A week later as I was in the chair, the dentist said that she noticed I had some old (metal) fillings and told me now would be a good time to get those replaced with the white fillings. So, okay, I thought getting it all done at once would be great so I wouldn't have to go back for a long time.

Bad idea.

One of the old fillings she started to replace was unbelievably painful even after she put 5 shots of novocain I could feel all the drilling. At one point she just thought I was being "anxious" and I gave up on trying to tell her that it hurt!

A week after the whole experience, I was not able to eat anything with that side of my mouth. I went back to get the filling filled down a little but that didn't help. Still another week after that, I couldn't chew anything on that side! I had to go back again so they could take x-rays and let me know what the problem was so I could hopefully get it fixed. I never got a call back and when I had to call them to make another appointment I was met with a rude "oh, well does it still hurt?" when I asked if I could see the dentist again.

Very long story short...The dentist has made me feel like I am over reacting to the pain and that I should just deal with it. I'm most upset that before all this I had no pain in that tooth at all and that now every wednesday I have to leave work early to get this stupid thing looked at!
At this point, I haven't decided whether I should get the same dentist to fix that filling or just wait untill my insurance kicks in again with the new year and pay another dentist to fix it. What should I do?

I don't know…i'd probably try and find a new dentist….But if you can't wait that long (due to the pain), get the one who did it to fix it.

I've had multiple fillings done…and the one I got done yesterday is fairly sensitive…i'm a chronic grinder, and some of my teeth are very low. This is the first filling that has given me discomfort, but i'll keep my fingers crossed that the sensitivity goes away. It's not really much pain, it's just irritating when I chew! I already went back last night to have the filling adjusted since it was a little high (one of my pet peeves at the dentist is when he asks you how the bite feels when your mouth is still completely frozen).

I decided to repair my teeth and check for cavities under older composite filings in romania, where I visited my parents. I fixed over 6 old fillings and only one decided to give me grief. As many of you said, when I chew something and this touches a certain point on the tooth (2nd molar), it hurts - not awfully, but enough to prevent proper chewing.

From what I know, and also because here composite fillings are very popular and dentists experienced in doing them, the technique was correct: acid, thin layers, ultraviolet light etc.

Due to the pain when chewing I went back determined to do a root canal but it was impossible: the two shots of anesthetic would not hold. Half my face was numb but that little point on my tooth was not. The doctor concluded that it must be irritated and it cannot even be openned without the inflamation soothed first. So, now I am taking ketorolac and hope that it is truly just an irritation from the filling-changing procedure which would eventually heal. He told me that even a root canal would barely help because that is an even more intrussive procedure and my tooth would keep hurting just the same or worse.

I agree that one cannot stay forever with the pain and there should be a way to address it rather than guessing about air bubles or grinding. I was hoping to have all my teeth repaired here because in the us dental procedures are very expensive and from your postings I see that in the problems that can occur are the same.

I am not sure this helped. For our good, though, I hope that the iritated- nerve hypothesis is true, so the pain will eventually stop with a treatment of anti-inflamatory drugs.

Well I am from romania, I went to the dentist and discovered I have about 8 cavities, I had 4 on the bottom right.

On the middle molar I had a amalgam filling and next to it there was a cavity, so he got out the metal filling and put a composite one. He never told me that it might hurt after, I am at day one and I feel a dull pain, and high one when I eat on that side.

So I hope the pain will calm down in a week. I cant imagine it lasting a year.

I, like most of you, have experienced the same awful pain after having eight silver fillings replaced with white composite. I did it because of the metal-mercury health scare. I had planned to finish up with another four on my left side, but now I am not so sure. That is the only side I can stand to chew on. The right side (upper and lower) hurt too badly. My dentist adjusted the bottom recently. It helped. I also used several drops of oil of oregano that I got from my local vitaminshoppe. The manager recommended it without knowing my situation. I just added a few drops to a q-tip and massaged my gums where it hurt as soon as I got home from the store and again at night. I think it helped. It is a dietary supplement used to kill parasites and bad bacteria. It is relatively expensive though. I plan to have my dentist adjust my bite on the top four fillings he replaced five days ago. Until then I guess i'll just have to suffer. I am glad that it isn't as bad as some people have described here in this forum. I just happen to stumble across this site. I am relieved to know that I am not the only one suffering from this. Thanks to all of the people who shared.

I just have tooth filled with composite filling in Jan. 07, after 23 days passed, it was hurting when I eat something sweet
But now after 6 weeks passed, when I eat something hard it had pain on it.
Please tell me if the problem is same like you.

I had a tooth filled with composite filling, right now I'm experiencing pain after the dentist filled with white filling, right now is about 2 month and my teeth hurt when I eat something sweet and most the time I experience sharp pain on it own happening every few mins So what could I do?

Hi everyone,

Yep, so i've been reading some of these postings and i am surprised yet in some way happy to hear that I am not the only person experiencing pain after getting fillings. I went to a dentist at the beginning of March 2007 because one of my fillings had fallen off, so of course, since i've got insurance, they had to check for other stuff. Surely enough, the dentist found 4 other teeth with cavities (which by the way 2 were not visible as they were in between the tooth that needed to get the filling replaced, and one on my top molar....NONE OF WHICH EVER HURT BEFORE...not even the tooth with the missing filling.) Anywho, so yea, he decides to get me an appt to have all 4 cavities fixed. Went in and came out with fillings (it was a horrible experience due to other events, but not related to pain). He said, i could eat after an hour but due to the novacaine, i could barely open my mouth to chew. So i waited and after the numbing had gone away, i experienced the worst pain ever! I took some Aleve and it worked a bit, but decided to try to sleep it off. Woke up next morning and the pain had gone away, but THEN, it came back during the day with anything i drank, ate (crunchy foods, soft foods,)and even the breathing air through my mouth was making my teeth ache! Called dentist office and asked if this was normal! "Sure it is, just give it some time", he said. Okay, so pain lasted for a week and i had to go back. He said something about my fillings expanding, blah blah blah, your bite is off, bla blah bla, and he drilled the filling down. All better, he asked? Uh, well can't tell ya doc...i'm still in pain, you can't expect it to go away after you just drilled down my teeth again! Sheesh..so in a rush, he left and i was on my way home. Started feeling better after that but then it got worse. Now i feel pressure on my left jaw which travels to my left ear (giving me a huge earache on my left side)..took some wonderful painkillers for this. And a 2 and a half weeks later, now i have the jaw pain, ear aches, and now the back of my throat has some dull pain and i feel something going on with my tongue?? what what the heck is this?? Needless to say, i am going to see him again today and demand he gets xray on my teeth to make sure they are not infected. i scheduled an appointment with another dentist for tomorrow to get a second opinion, and we'll see what happens next! But this is horrible! I've got two of the worst pains any person can have (teeth and earaches!)

Well about 2 months have passed till i got my fillings replaced, as I said my dentist put 16 composite fillings. Luckily I can chew with my left side but if I drink something mildly cold or hot I get a huge pain.

And as the poster above me I get a earache from time to time. I am just pissed of on my dentist and even regret going, even breathing hurts.

The old fillings were perfect, no pain whatsoever. I think dentists should rethink their strategy.

I got a filling 2 days ago in my 2nd molar. it was a deep cavity but the dentist said that there wasn't any nerve exposure. since the shots wore off i've been in excrutiating pain on the whole right side of my mouth. i called the dentist and he said to just up my vicodin use to every 4 hours and use Ibuprophin between then if needed. Does anyone know any way to make it stop hurting? because the vicodin isn't working. it just makes me very sleepy. However, when I lay down to sleep the pain gets even worse. I don't know why...maybe more blood to the head or something. At any rate i feel like i'm going insane from the pain and lack of sleep.

There is a really good reason for all your dentists wanting to replace your silver fillings. Here's the scoop...

Mercury Fillings –
Just say "Nahhhh"

by Michael Braunstein

If you drop a thermometer at work and it breaks, government guidelines recommend the room be sealed until Hazardous Materials experts can decontaminate the scene. If your child swallows a watch battery, your next phone call better be to the Poison Control Center. Toss out some old mercury-switch thermostats at your local landfill and you could be subject to some hefty EPA fines.

In all those cases, the offending material is the toxic heavy metal, mercury. The sobering thought is that eight out of ten Americans have more mercury in their mouth than in any of the above items. You are probably one of them. And every time you chew food or drink liquid or brush your teeth, toxic mercury vapors and particles enter your body.

Current estimates are that American dentists put 80 tons of toxic mercury and over 100 million fillings in our mouths every year. 92 percent of American dentists still say they prefer to work with amalgam for fillings despite safer alternatives. Institutions are hard to change.
The inherent toxicity of mercury is not open to debate. Immune system problems, organ dysfunction, kidney damage, nervous system debilitation and chronic diseases are all linked to mercury poisoning.

Amalgam fillings are durable and that is part of the problem. They release substantial amounts over the decades they remain in the mouth. Evidence is mounting against their use because new procedures are finding that the amount of mercury released is greater than first believed. Finding mercury in tissue is what is disturbing. It stays there virtually for life and is accumulative. It crosses the placenta and the blood/brain barrier.

Governments worldwide are banning amalgam fillings. Sweden, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Finland and Canada all have completed steps to halt their use. As of 2000, you can’t get a mercury filling in Sweden, Austria or Germany. In California, state law requires a disclosure form signed by all patients who are going to have fillings, letting them know that their dentist is about to put a controversial material in their mouth.

If you already have a mouth full of mercury, the removal process could expose you to more mercury than leaving them be unless it is done by an experienced dentist. Many feel that the only justification for complete removal is if one is suffering a chronic, unresponsive disease. In many cases, health has been known to return when the consistent mercury exposure is ended.

What i've read here bothers me a lot. Ive got my tooth filled with silver somethin cuz it had a cavity and foods just kept getting stuck in it. I've had a white filling too on my right molar but for some reason it cracked and my tooth bled. So due to extensive damage to the tooth i've let my doctor extract it, I felt better after that because there is no more foul smell coming from that area. Anyway, my most recent filling sometimes hurt a lot when drinking cold drinks and is it true that this silver fillings contain mercury which is reallly bad for one's health?

Well, like alot of people here, i got the composite stuff, atleast I think, i dont think it's silver, it's a bit darker then my teeth color, but regardless, i got like 6 done, two in the lower left, two in the upper left, and i think 2 in the upper right, now, it has sensitivity to cold mostly, hot isnt bad, but i get a horrible throbbing in my teeth sometimes, like if im laying in bed, hours after ive eatin, and dint have a problem, out of no where, a horrid throbbing, i had them done about 2 weeks ago, sometimes i can eat without ANY pain, just sensitivity, but then just out of no where the throbbing will start, and then like, just go away when i wake up, middle of the day, it'll start meybe, then at night, it just feels random, but like i said, if it just starts out of no where like in the middle of the night, and if i dint eat, root canal?

thanks guys =D

I had several old silver colored fillings replaced with composite material about 2 months ago. Since that time I have had to take over the counter pain meds daily (Advil, Motrin, Whatever is available). I always have problems with extreme hot or cold food and drinks. Most of the time it is a dull throbbing pain, but sometimes my whole jaw hurts as well as my ears. With the random sharp shooting pain (OUCH)!

I just hope it's ok to take OTC pain meds for two months straight (the bottles say no more than 7 to 10 days).

At what point will this go away?? Reading everyone's postings has been both a blessing and a curse. It is a relieve to know I am not the only one, but it is scary that the Dentist might have done the procedure wrong, and that I might need a root canal, yuck!

I had two 30 yr. old metal fillings replaced a month ago and had the composite put in. On one of the molars (#19) I'm having pressure sensitivity. Hot and cold are not an issue. When I bit down on that side (food that was not really soft) it bothered that nerve. I went back to my dentist and she said that it looked like I might have a small crack in the tooth (possibly from the drilling of the old filling) and that a crown was needed. I went in again and she prepped my tooth for the crown and a temporary one was put in. I was sure that would fix me up. That tooth was still pressure sensitive after the first week of wearing the temp. crown, but seems better now. At the end of the day, my tooth throbs a little still and when I went in for the permanent crown, she suggested seeing a root canal specialist. He said that I may need a root canal since the temp crown is not stopping the pressure sensitivity, but suggested I wait a couple more weeks to see if it gets better. I just don't know what to do at this point....I really dont want to get my permanent crown on and still have problems...any thoughts/ideas?????

I am sitting here, searching the internet for some kind of explination or treatment or anything that will stop my tooth from the pain I am constantly experiencing. I have to say, even though I have not come across any solution, I have read everyone's posts and even though it's sad, at least I know i'm not the only one out there!
I had my left 2 back top teeth filled about a month ago, and it hurts terrible all the time every day. The pain and pressure are almost unbearable. I can't eat anything too hot or too cold or I'll scream real loud. My ear is also starting to hurt now. I take 1000mg of Tylenol pretty much every day and it doesn't completely take the pain away, but it helps.
I know I will have to eventually go back to the dentist and not only does that money come directly out of my pocket but I'm afraid of what will happen next. I don't want any more pain!
I'm glad to get this all out, I'm sure my family is sick and tired of hearing me complain... and I think i've been doing pretty good considering the actual pain I am in constantly.
Reading some of the other posts actually made me feel a little better. At least I know I'm not the only one enduring this kind of pain. Which is horrible!!
Thanks to everyone for making me feel a little better! And for anyone reading this with the same problem... I know it sucks!!!

Of course, after typing a lengthy posting, the computer ate it.. so now I have to remember what all I said.

I just got three fillings done on my right side -- two on the bottom, one on top. My cheek has been swollen for about 3-4 days now, but it's getting better and I can almost eat like normal -- though I am tending to favor chewing on one side still, I think more because I'm scared of it hurting versus it actually hurting.

I went for the silver fillings because I am cheap and they are in the back where you can't see.

I have some cold sensitivity when I drink, but I'm hoping that will go away with time.

When I finally got up the courage to feel around on the new fillings with my tongue, the one on top feels weird. It's my top right very back molar. It feels like I have a blob of gum or something stuck in my teeth -- like he covered the entire back surface with the filling stuff making it kind of broad and flat in the back...

Is this normal??? It feels bizarre.

My next set of procedures will probably be my wisdom teeth and it feels like the new 'mega filling' might get in the way of the extraction of that top wisdom tooth...?

(I had a whole other rant about dentists lacking in bedside manner and making me feel like crap instead of putting me at ease because I expressed anxiety, but I'll save that for another post...

Thanks!

wow...I'm pretty shocked, slightly disturbed at how many people have had this problem. I got three fillings in my teeth 1 week ago - 1 in the top left side, 1 in the top right side, and 1 in the bottom right side. The only side that has really been giving me trouble is the bottom right. I noticed my bite was kind of uneven the day of the feelings, but I figured it was something I'd get used to...fast-forward a week and if I chew on the right side of my mouth I'm met with some incredibly intense pain. I'll probably give it another week, and then I'll head back to the dentist.

So I went back last week for my second set of fillings (three on the other side of my mouth this time)... I even took off the next day from work anticipating the same kind of pain I experienced after the last set.

This time was completely different. I was able to eat pretty much immediately after the deadening stuff wore off (last time I could only have soup for the first night or two). No pain the next day, no cheek swelling or bruising. Within two or three days, I really couldn't feel anything at all.

I asked the dentist's secretary (because I HATE my dentist and didn't want to talk to him because all he does is belittle me -- the fillings were my first and last attempt at visiting him -- he can jump off a bridge for all I care, but anyway.. and she said the pain, swelling, and bruising can happen when the numbing injections are placed too close to a blood vessel.

Soooo glad this experience was better than the last!!!

...sooo hoping the silver fillings and the fact that I'm cheap won't kill me (seeing all the mercury posts.. etc).

Yesterday I went to a dentist and found out that I needed to get a silver filling put to plug up what was described as a very big cavity. My dentist told me that had a waited any longer to get the tooth treated I would have probably needed a root canal.
OK
got the filling
and the next day I was back in the dentist office to let the dentist know that I was having a shooting pain after eating a hot meal. I had a couple of shots of pain while eating a pizza ... it also felt like the bite was not quite right . I also felt a shot of pain shortly after the meal - no food in the mouth and no biting down.
I tried to explain the situation and the dentist cut me off to tell me that there was a high point and it would take like 3 minutes to fix the problem.
ok. sounds correct. He evened out the "high point" and sent me on my way.
here's the problem.
I'm now having extreme shots of pain now without waring. Not only during a meal. I find myself sitting and just waiting for a shot of pain to hit me and it's happening on an average of 5- 10 minute intervals. The situation is worse.
Is this normal??? Should I expect this pain to end in a couple of weeks...
should I wait and indoor the pain?
I just want to get this filling out. maybe redone but I am scared that there is not much tooth left as it is to sustain another procedure. I really do not want to have to get a root canal!
What can I do? Should I even be going back to the same dentist?