How long after you have your teeth drilled and filled from cavities?!
Question:
How long after you have your teeth drilled and filled from cavities?
Should they stop being sensitive? It's been 4 months and I still cannot chew on one side and I cannot even touch the bottom of my molars without feeling excrutiating pain. I use sensadine toothpaste but it isn't helping. Is this normal?
Answers:
As a registered dental hygienist I can say with confidence that you shouldn't be experiencing that level of pain at this point. When having a tooth filled it may be sensitive at first, but over time it should taper off. I think that one of two things might be happening, 1. The filling is too "high" and needs to be adjusted to correct the way your teeth bite together or 2. when you had the filling done the nerve was injured. It is possible that the nerve was already injured by a deep cavity, but it may have not been able to withstand treatment. You should expect to have an Xray taken when you return to the office to rule out an abscess (infection) and my guess is that you would need a root canal. If not a root canal (which removes the nerve of the tooth and replaces it with a putty like material), the Dr. would probably take out the current filling and put in a temporary medicated filling to see if the tooth will "calm down" A sensitive toothpaste won't help you, but it was worth a try! Good luck!
PS. - If you are uninsured, you might go to a local dental school for follow up treatment.