Boring dental thing: AIBU to think that 2 weeks plus of pain following a routine filling is a Bit Much?

[OddFodd]

Aargh - would really appreciate some advice here.

My NHS surgery has been taken over by another private/NHS practice and my old dentist has been replaced by another one who seems very nice but is very young.

I am quite old and have some old fillings which are causing stress on my teeth. A chunk of one of my teeth fell off a while ago and I went to have it filled. It wasn't giving me any pain and the dentist confirmed there was no decay.

She gave me FOUR injections (I've never, ever had more than two) - two by the tooth and two in the junction between the upper and lower jaws (never had those). Tooth was filled with no pain (and no sensation whatsoever) but I was numb for hours and hours.

It's now 2+ weeks since I had that filling and I still can't open my jaw wider than one finger's width without pain where my jaws meet. The pain doesn't seem to be getting any better at all either.

I've had a lot of dental work in my time (I'm nearly 50) but this has never happened before. I was supposed to go and have some other work yesterday but cancelled because I can't open my mouth.

The receptionist wanted me to go so that the dentist could have a look but my dentist is 15 miles away so I'm reluctant to make the journey if they're just going to tell me that I should give it time.

And is this crap and should I change my dentist? I can't get an NHS one any nearer but I could go private

It's impossible to say whether something has gone wrong or whether this is the one time your luck has ran out and you have developed a complication. Any procedure or chemical inflicted on your body carries a risk, so I wouldn't go in accusing without all the facts. It might not have been a technique your familiar with but things change and are taught differently based on new research and analysis all the time.

It's not UR they ask you to come in to be examined to determine what's going on though.

It might be nothing and you're told to give it time but you must surely appreciate why that's a very risky diagnosis to make over the phone. If you can afford to go private because you don't want to make a journey that's perfectly justifiable, of course it is.

Yabu to not accept an examination is what's needed if that's what your answer was when enquiring.

I would go. The filling could be too high and need adjusted.

Thanks both. Definitely not a filling being too high - it isn't at all and this is way, way back from the filling itself which is absolutely fine.

I will go back Cornetto but I think I will go private in future. Because I can't get an NHS dentist anywhere near where I live :(

Fillings being a tiny bit high cause jaw pain because they slightly affect your bite. I wouldn't rule that out totally just because the pain is further back.

Or possibly you have opened too wide and strained your jaw in which case warm compresses and anti inflammatories should help.

And soft food.

Hope you get to bottom of it.

Think you need to take the trip back to the dentist. Hopefully something simple such as filling surface not matching your bite. Also have a look on nhs direct pages at temporomandibular disorder (what a mouthful - sorry, couldn't resist) hope this helps.

Sounds like trismus from injection trauma, which is a possible risk of local anaesthetic injection, and doesn't mean the dentist has done anything wrong. Best advice would be rest, and anti infiammatories.

Thanks all. I will go back and ask her to have a look at it. I'm so fed up of being in constant discomfort and not being able to eat. I can't even eat a cherry tomato! (first world problem or what?! :o )

Ach, the nhs thing is a croc isn't it.

I would say that if you go back to the same nhs dentist or need a referral to a consultant it should all have been covered in your nhs payment, I'm not sure if it would count as the same treatment if you ended up needing a referral on top of a private consultation.

Worth checking and making sure you've factored it in.