In agony after a deep filling! Please help!

[Ashana]

I had a very deep filling done last Thursday in one of my upper molars. The tooth had had a filling in it previously which had come away and some of the tooth had also chipped off. The dentist drilled further and put a new filling in and said that the tooth may require a root canal in the future if the filling doesn't work.

A day after I had the filling done I was absolutely fine, but on day three and four I was in agony. I was in so much pain that I was in tears. Day five and six have been a bit better but I'm still getting sudden bouts of deep, throbbing pain. I hate taking pain killers so I only take paracetamol and ibuprofen when I can't bare the pain any longer.

I went back to see the dentist yesterday because of the pain but he said to carry on taking painkillers and wait another couple of weeks to see if the tooth settles. If not, he will then consider root canal.

I really can't bare the thought of having to put up with this pain any longer. I've had to take a few days off work for this and I've been unable to do much activity with my toddler so I feel really guilty. We are also going abroad in a weeks time so I really need to get it sorted.

How long does a deep filling usually take to settle? What advice can anyone give? The pain gets so bad that I just want to pull the tooth out.

Thanks.

Gum not him. And in that, not on that. Nothing I wrote there made much sense!

Genuinely thought this was gonna be a troll post from some perv. Actually laughed out loud after I realised you meant dental!

@BlueCornishPixie so sorry to bother you again. After much niggling and then a descent into full on pain the back molar was finally extracted on Monday. I didn't have £900 and in any case the specialist wouldn't have been able to do the root canal job before early January. So the tooth came out. The dentist said it broke and it was quite difficult for him, but at the time it was only odd, not painful. I promise I'm not a wuss - I gave birth twice without drugs. However 5 days later it is still hurting so much. I don't think I have a dry socket but it is just so tender and the pain is radiating through my jaw and cheekbone. I can't go back as am due to travel for Christmas on Monday. Is it normal for it to hurt a lot after extraction? Are the nerves still reacting? The gums bruised? Or do you think maybe I do have a dry socket? I phoned 111 and they just said to keep taking the painkillers and antibiotics, but the whole combination is upsetting my tummy and also not really getting on top of the pain. I just want someone to make it stop!

LMAO at a dentist saying extractions don't hurt!

I'm in a similar position. Deep filling 6 months ago has caused no end of problems and now trying to decide extraction or root fill. 😬 my toot filling though is "only" £350 + £400 crown. £900 is insane!

I am in a similar situation too. A good few years ago now my dentist did a filling and said it ought to "settle". And now for much of this year it's been painful on a daily basis, and the last couple of months it got worse. My new dentist (same surgery) has now agreed it will need a root filling. Shoulda been done ages ago I say.

I had a difficult extraction in May. I had to have stitches as they cut the gum etc. It took about 2-3 weeks to settle. The first week was awful. I struggled to eat or sleep. Hang in there. It will get better x

Oi va voi. My heart goes out to those of us suffering tooth pain. I’m midway through an ongoing saga with a tooth that has meant I have seen multiple dentists who have all told me different things. Resulted in two emergency root canals and a trip to the ER when the pain got on top of me. More drugs than I’ve ever taken in my life that have also made me feel more shit and whacked out than any other time in my life. Huge amounts of money I don’t have gone, mostly for incorrectly diagnosed issues. And I don’t have insurance. And it’s not over. I’ve still got the second and third stages of the process to go and have a bad feeling it won’t go well and he’ll have to extract. Worse still is the tooth is next to a previously extracted tooth I lost after another emergency root canal didn’t take. There’s an implant there now but from what our helpful dentist has said throughout this thread two missing teeth next to each other ain’t too great. 😕

@Biscuitsneeded It's normal for it to be sore at 5 days but it depends how much we are talking. At 5 days I would expect the pain to be improving. The gums will be bruised a bit, so they will be tender. Is it improving or is it getting worse?

It sounds a bit more sore than I would expect at 5 days, but everyone's different and the more difficult the extraction the more sore you are going to be.

Is there anyway you can get back to the dentist? I think it would be worth a trip. Do they have emergency cover on a Sunday?

If you can't it's just going to have to be a cause of keeping it clean with saltwater, try and get the saltwater in the socket to remove any debris that maybe in there. You could try some Difflam spray on the gum which can be bought from the chemist, it's local aneasthetic spray and it might provide some relief.

I would defo do the root canal - I’ve had 2 extractions and hated them, they bled for ages and just feeling the socket made me feel sick! I had toothache again recently and was petrified - luckily just needed a filling but I’d have done anything to save the tooth and avoid extraction. Hopefully your filling settles - good luck!

Paracetamol has a cumulative effect so you have to take the dosage correctly. I hate people who say ‘oh I hate taking pills’ you are in pain so take them!

Mil dues this, takes one paracetamol and complains she’s still in pain!

@BlueCornishPixie Thanks for the advice. I will keep doing as I am doing and also get some of that spray. Hadn't thought of that. I don't think it's a dry socket - just probably a fair bit of bruising. The tooth sheared off as he tried to get it out so he had to drill to get the roots, so maybe that's why it hurts so much? I really can't delay my departure tomorrow but I'm sure there are dentists where I'm going if worst comes to worst..

"I hate people who say ‘oh I hate taking pills’ you are in pain so take them!"

That annoyed me in the OP as well. However, I've never had good results with paracetamol so I don't think you can blame me for trying to get my pain relief from ibuprofen, which does at least work for period pain.