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I went in to my Dentist to get a filling on the very back tooth of my lower jaw. It was a white filling (the color of my teeth). Anyway, since the filling my tooth was hurting pretty bad, in fact it was causing pain in the rest of the teeth on my lower jaw. When I touched the tooth it appeared to be much higher than the other teeth on the row. So I went back in and she used a drill to lower the filling/tooth to try to make it more straight with the row (so I wouldn't put too much pressure on it when I chomped down). Anyway, a week went by and every day it still hurt like hell. Kind of a stinging constant pain. Hot and cold liquids didn't affect it. Just a constant stinging pain. So I went back in again! This time she drilled some on the upper tooth above the filling and also drilled some on the filling (she seemed to think I was chomping down on it and that it may not have been straight with my other teeth), so she was trying to get it even with my other teeth. Anyway, it still hurts! I asked her if I need a root canal and she was like-- no you won't need one there.
1. Should I go see another dentist?
2. Anyone experienced this before, or know what to do?
As a dentist I would evaluate the restoration first. High fillings are much like a rock in your shoe, you're hitting the filling first and could be stressing the ligaments around the tooth. So when someone comes in with a toothache I'll sometimes check the persons bite first. You mentioned you didn't have any sensitivity to hot/cold liquids, that's good, that would've been my next question. Composite restorations (white fillings) are nice but they attract sensitivity like you wouldn't believe. If a patient comes back a few weeks later and says "hey doc, that white filling you put in is giving me problems, especially when I drink cold liquids and sweets", it's more than likely an open margin. An open margin is the interface between the restoration and the tooth, something that you really can't see with the naked eye and it's pretty much microscopic, but it's there and its letting in fluids and bacteria. This dentist may have also went too deep with the actual restoration too and that happens quite often. Sometimes if I'm in a tooth and the preparation is very deep, and when I say deep I mean literally right on top of the nerve tissue, I'll lay down some medication first and then put the restoration on top. She may not have done this which is causing the pulp tissue to be irritated. If ever get awakened in the middle of a deep sleep because of a toothache, that's bad news. A toothache shouldn't wake you up, that's a sign of the pulp (nerve) acting up and causing problems. She did the right thing by checking your occlusion (bite) first to see if that alleviated the pain, but at this point I'd have to look at other factors. She may have to go in and take the nerve out of the tooth and start a root canal. I probably perform that procedure at least once, sometimes twice a day where I'll go in and get the nerve out of a tooth and put the patient on antibiotics and pain meds. Hopefully this all helps and you get results.
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