White filling pressure sensitive

niceguyed

Basically, I had two silver fillings replaced with composites. Both upper molar. There was no decay, but I'd had the fillings about 10 years and to be honest wanted a better appearance for my teeth. I'm now experiencing pressure sensitivity on both teeth when I chew (mainly chewy food, seems ok with softer foods). This isn't a sharp pain just a dull ache which subsides straight away after chewing. The teeth aren't cold or hot sensitive and no other pain apart from chewing. I've been back to the dentist and the bite was adjusted slightly. It's now been two weeks since the fillings. My dentist has said this is normal for composites but couldn't give a time scale of how long this could go on. They said worse case scenario was a root canal if it gets worse. But basically if it stayed the same (which is irritating rather than painful) then to just try and live with it. I don't really want to go down the root canal route as if it doesn't work then we're talking about extraction! Have you any advice, I've checked on the internet and read so many contrasting opinions. One option I thought was could they be replaced with silver fillings again as I'm thinking maybe these teeth just don't like these composites. 2nd option I'm thinking do I get them to redo the white ones as maybe there was a problem. I've heard dentists can put like a antisensitivty layer before adding the filling? 3rd option just wait it out if it isn't getting worse? My teeth haven't been xrayed since the procedure. My dentist did say they were not deep fillings and likely my nerves were slightly irritated. Any advice/comment would be really welcomed from any resident Dentist (Toothsmith!!) or people who have had similar problems. Thankyou so much.

HH62

I'm experiencing the same thing myself. My filling was replaced a month ago now and it does seem to getting less sensitive. I talked to everyone (anyone!!) who would listen about this and one of my friends had a similar problem. It took her tooth 6 months to settle completely. That was 5 years ago and she's had no problem with it since.

I'll be interested to hear from Toothsmith also.

[Deleted User]

I had the same problem when I had my two (not very deep) silver fillings replaced with porcelaine, I think it took nearly a year (!!) for the dull ache to go away.

brook2jack

This is one of the reasons I will not replace good amalgam fillings with White just for aesthetic reasons.

Many things can cause sensitivity as composite fillings are very technique sensitive. Sometimes time and sensitive toothpastes can settle things , sometimes the filling needs taking out and replacing with a dressing , sometimes a different material needs to be used and occaisionally yes root treatment needs doing.

When ever you replace a filling you make the hole larger and disturb the tooth and you can cause problems in a tooth that was symptom free before. My advice is if you want White fillings wait until the fillings need replacing.

niceguyed

Thanks for the replies. Brook2jack I think that is good advice about only replacing with a white filling when it actually needs doing. Right now I regret my decision but when I have had other white fillings they have been fine (touch wood). The oldest I have is about 6 years and it has never given me any problems. I do have an almagam at the back which can't really be seen so I just left that one. The two I recently had replaced were near the front and could be seen when speaking. I suppose the dentist prompting me about them being visible made my mind up to change them (plus they had been in for nearly ten years! The dentist who replaced them took her time (about 40 mins per filling) and yes I would say I trust her but obviously it is hard for a layperson to attest to her expertise. I'm getting the feeling there is a huge variance in the time these fillings can take to settle down. Brook2jack in your experience can it be a matter of days to several months for the nerve to settle?

brook2jack

They can take a long time to settle down , however if sensitivity gets worse or lasts a few minutes after hot/cold you need to go back to your dentist.

trixietoes

I had this too with my white fillings. The dentist gave me some sensodine toothpaste which I used till it was gone and my teeth have been fine ever since... I didn't buy the posh toothpaste after my freebee had gone either.