I visited my dentist today, and he shaved some of the filling off, like you suspected he would. After I left, the zinging pain still continued, again, sporadically and at random intervals. When I called him back this evening, he said that sometimes this happens and that I should just take Ibuprofen over the next few days and the tooth will “settle down”. He said he wouldn’t recommend redoing the filling as it would only make it worse. Are these accurate statements? As a precaution, I did book an appt at another dentist for this Thursday, but now I’m fearful that them redoing it will cause more pain, like my dentist said, and then I’ll be getting on a plane to leave for a foreign country.

I’m not really sure what to do. A third dentist office was the one to recommend calling my original dentist back and explaining my pain. That didn’t seem to do any good.

I really appreciate your help.

Thanks,
C

You should not have pain after a white filling. I have written about this exact issue (I am asked about this all the time):

http://www.idealdentistry.com/dental/dentistry/pain-after-white-composite-filling/

To summarize, either the bond is bad or the tooth is flexing. Both usually require the filling to be redone. If it is hitting too high then you would have mentioned that it seems to be “high”, but you said it was spontaneous.

Most dentists will just “adjust” the bite, but if the bite is too high then I recommend you ask the filling be redone. Then, when it is redone, the field needs to be dry and the bonding needs to be done in small increments…this is something the dentist should know about.

I wish you the best!

Smile, It’s Natural,
Dr. Chris

I had a composite white filling done on a back molar yesterday and as soon as the numbing wore off, I started experiencing spontaneous pain from that tooth (or that area). It’s a significant twinge, and then it goes away. It seems to occur regardless what I’m doing and not noticeably more when I eat or drink hot or cold drinks. The pain is sharp enough that it woke me up a few times last night, but not lasting enough that I didn’t easily fall back asleep.

The only thing of note that occurred during the procedure was that not enough anesthesia was used and I jerked when he hit the nerve. I’m not sure if he hit something else with the drill or not. He didn’t comment on it, so I assume not.

I’m going to be heading out of the country in a few days, and I’m really worried that something is wrong. I’ve never had pain after a filling before and this is a new dentist. I have an appt later this afternoon, but I’m really stressing out on what could have happened. Any guidance/hunches/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
C

There are many reasons for discomfort after a white filling, so it is hard for me to give you a detailed answer. Check the post below for more information, but I would suggest you contact your dentist as this could escalate into something worse. Probably, as the article above mentions, the bite is off or the bond failed.
I hope you get this resolved – don’t “Wait” for it to get better on its own!