General and Cosmetic Dentistry Tips and News

Pain After Tooth Filling

Don’t Worry: Your Pain After Having a Filling is Normal

By: | Tags: | Comments: 0 | January 15th, 2018

Is it your first time visiting a dentist in quite a long time, and you’re prepared for a plethora of problems wrong with your mouth? Maybe you’ve just found out that you only need some fillings and are super relieved, only to have them done and feel some sort of pain afterwards. The hypochondriac in us all will automatically resort to: “oh my goodness, is my tooth infected? Do I need to get this pulled?” Thankfully, most of the time, the answer is no, and don’t automatically think you’re the exception!

Here are some common reasons you might have pain after a filling is done – even weeks after.

It’s not uncommon for there to be some sensitivity in general after a filling. You’ve just gotten your mouth poked and prodded, and the more difficult tooth you have (former fillings, etc.), the more pain you may experience after. General discomfort should fade shortly – two days or so after your appointment.

Although, it’s worth mentioning that sensitivity to cold can last a couple of weeks afterwards. If you’re still having sensitivity issues to anything after your filling, this could be because of the filling itself. Often times, since your mouth is numb, the dentist can’t truly tell if your bite is even; after all, you can’t feel your mouth! The only thing that needs to be done is to have a bite adjustment, and this should fix any sort of jaw pain or tooth pain. Malocclusion is what the lack of a great fit / tooth height is called.

Going too long with this issue can cause further pain and problems within your mouth and can be fixed within a few minutes at your dentist – in fact, the waiting takes longer than the bite adjustment!

If your new filling is composed of composite resin, it’s completely normal to have some sensitivity after having this done. Furthermore, a study has noted that the pain from this kind of filling probably has something to do with the fact that the composite resin used has to shrink to the tooth, which can cause some sensitivity.

What Can I Do About the Pain?

If it’s been a week since you’ve gone to the dentist and had your tooth filling, it’s incredibly important to contact your dentist if you’re still feeling some discomfort. If you haven’t been to the dentist in years and had a lot of work done to your mouth, you may need to wait longer than a week to see if the pain fades. If it doesn’t, your dentist will examine your mouth and recommend the proper solution.

Is malocclusion (high filling) the culprit? If so, a quick and simple bite adjustment will be made. This will be done without anesthetics, and doesn’t hurt too much (if at all), so the height can be felt on your end and you can give the “ok” of it feeling even. If that has been done and the filling still bothers you weeks later, you may need to have another filling put on the tooth.

Need a professional opinion on your tooth or filling? Contact Dentistry For You at 905.731.1871 today.