Jaw and teeth pain post fillings
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hello! I am having quite a big problem right now and I am trying to find any help I can get, which currently isn't a lot.
About 3 weeks ago I went to a new dentist (moved to a new country) for a teeth cleaning. He told me I had three cavities that needed filling and that I should come back a few days later. I found this odd because I nothing hurt and I never had any problems with my teeth since I was a child and to have 3 cavities at once seemed weird to me. Even more because 3 months earlier I went to see my orthodontist back home and she didn't mention I needed any work done. Still I went back for the treatment.
He filled in one tooth at the left down back, one right up back, and one right down back. He gave me injections at each of these places. While he was doing the work I was still experiencing pain, even though I was given the anesthesia and he said that the fillings were superficial. After I left and the anesthesia wore off I was still experiencing a lot of pain in my right jaw.
It has been 3 weeks since that appointment now. My left side is perfectly fine. But my right jaw and all the teeth both up and down are in constant pain, sensitive to fluids of any temperature and to the bite. I feel the joint of my jaw is stiff and it hurts. Also I do not think that the teeth he worked on hurt, but I am experiencing pain in the teeth more up front. I have been taking pain killers and am going to see him soon.
But I would really like to know what this could be? Did he damage a nerve? Did he not fill in the fillings properly?
I would very much appreciate your help!
0 likes, 5 replies
rocky31676 paula0110
Posted
acc925 paula0110
Posted
I'm glad you're going back. Clearly, something is wrong. I wouldn't want to speculate and cause undo concern. Be firm and if you don't like the answer you get, seek another opinion, I don't think you should be experienceing pain from routine fillings.
kitty13236 acc925
Posted
amkoffee paula0110
Posted
I have to agree with everything that's been said so far. It sounds almost like damage to a nerve or perhaps maybe one of the teeth needs a root canal rather than just a filling. Maybe the cavity went further down that he thought initially. I'm assuming he took x-rays of your teeth before he did the filling. So he should have been able to see how the far down the cavity was. But sometimes it's hard to tell from a x-ray. Be sure to let him know about it. You might even call him ahead of your appointment and let him know in case he doesn't have enough time to deal with it at your next appointment. He may need to reschedule your appointment so he has enough time deal with your problem
lily65668 paula0110
Posted
Paula, I don't want to be "country-ist" (if that's a word!) but I'm just wondering whether the new country you mentioned was the UK, Australia or New Zealand by any chance. Dentists in some countries are quicker to fill teeth than in others.
I'm British by birth and lived there for the first 30-odd years of my life. Back then in the 1950s-1970s (at a time when many dentists in the UK hailed from Oz or NZ as well) I routinely had several fillings every year, believing them to be necessary. These were both new fillings, and old ones being drilled out and replaced. All but one of my molars and premolars had been filled by the age of 25. Like you, I never questioned this, as everyone I knew was in the same position.
It was only when I moved to another European country more than 40 years ago that all these fillings stopped. (Except for one which, admittedly, went disastrously wrong and ended up with me losing the tooth - so dentists aren't perfect in any country!) Apart from that one filling, I've never had to have another one in 40 years of annual check-ups, and my teeth are still all in good condition.
I'd start asking questions if I were you...