Painful fillings after a month, normal? can a composite filling be filled up more?

Looks like the work performed was something to be desired, since you mentioned that one molar’s filling is already chipped. You may want to get a second opinion from a well recommended dentist.

Sounds like you went to one of those cheapie dentists like the Aspen Dental Clinic.

you should go to another dentist in your area. One who has been there a long time.

Your fillings should not be hurting (amazing you waited a whole month). You should not be getting chips from eating chips (I couldn’t resist).

Just slide it sideways until your new dentist fixes the problem. They can fill those in-between-teeth cavities without doing a partial crown, too.

Sounds like your dentist is a quack.

Definitely get a second opinion.

I agree that going to another very well trained and recommended dentist would be the best bet. Getting your teeth taken care of well will be the best money you ever spent.

Too bad I didn’t get a second opinion before letting him do all of it… I keep wondering if I really needed it all. Two friends at work recommended him…this was the first time I went to him.

I agree with @njnyjobs. I’ve had TONS of dental work done. After a month, you shouldn’t be having that much pain. He may have injured a nerve in there. And if you’ve got chips in there already, something wasn’t done right. And this ‘dipping’ in the filling isn’t right, either.

As for the floss getting caught, it sounds like the crown wasn’t pressed down far enough on the tooth. He should have wadded up a little piece of gauze for you to bite down on to ‘seat’ the crown & give it a good tight bond. I’d ditch this bozo. I agree with you needing to go elsewhere. I wish you could go to MY dentist!

@davidbetterman ; is it too late to replace the crown with fillings now though?

Find a new dentist!

First of all, if you’ve been maintaining good oral hygiene—and if you’ve had checkups and professional cleanings in the past—I doubt that you ‘suddenly’ developed a bunch of cavities. But if you haven’t been having checkups, or haven’t had good exams before… maybe. So I’m giving the dentist a ‘hmm… maybe fishy’ for now, but there’s nothing proven against him for finding cavities that no one else did.

But fillings DO NOT take “a few months” to adapt to. Trust me on this. I’ve had fillings in teeth for most of my life, and placed there by several dentists. Fillings should be comfortable within a day or two at most. A dentist who says you need “a few months” to adapt has obviously not taken enough care to fit the fillings, and you have a bite interference… which will eventually go away when the teeth reposition themselves in your mouth. The fillings should not ever be the cause of this.

And a crown should never have ‘edges’. That’s going to be trouble in the future to the base tooth; you’ll be having the crown removed because of continuing decay in years to come.

Find a new dentist.

It was a fancy 1 hour Cerec crown. This office claims to have all the latest techniques.

I cannot advise you on that matter @kutelilkat… You really should go to a qualified dentist in your area…and not one recommended by your friends who recommended this one!
I went to the Aspen Group once and their Latest techniques are just a bunch of rubbish…

I understand David, thanks for all your advice every one. I feel more confident now.

Actually I’ve had at least 7 of the cavities since I was 15, they were so tiny that the dentist didn’t fill them. I guess since then I’ve gotten 4 more. I’ve been prescribed a special floride tooth paste by this dentist…

Wish I knew how to find a great dentist… I’m scared now! Every single time I’ve gone to the dentist in my life it’s been such a headache. I guess I just have to try several different ones before I let them do anything in my mouth.

@kutelilkat I wouldn’t worry about it too much, really. Since I was a child I’ve just found dentists out of the Yellow Pages, and I’ve only been disappointed I think one time out of dozens. (And that once was because he tried to ‘oversell’ services that I didn’t think I needed—and now, more than twenty years later I know that I didn’t need them.)

I would, actually, go with referrals from friends who have had the kind of work done that you need. Ask what their experience was like, and expect to have a similar experience.

Dentistry these days should be painless, more often than not.

@kutelilkat Go to ada.org. Then go to ‘find a dentist’. Good luck.

@jbfletcherfan Thanks. I was able to find 2 dentist very close by that are on the ada list… I think I will give one of them a try.

@kutelilkat Wonderful! :-)

I’ve had lots of dental work and I have to use Sensodyne toothpaste or the pain comes back. I’ve had xrays and no cavities from the sensitivity. It’s not pain but sensitivity..is that more like what you have?

@casheroo hmmm… well it only hurts when I chew hard, eat hard foods, or eat very cold/hot stuff. It’s not a strong pain, its mild-moderate but very annoying and I notice it every time I eat! plus it startles me; I’ll be chewing and chewing..and then.. OUCH ! .. a sudden pain where I chomp on a sensitive spot… and then this keeps happening through out the day when I eat. Now, I’m in the habit of eating slowly and lightly… it sucks

I just made an appointment with a new dentist.

that does not sound normal. i’ve had a bunch of dental work too including like fifteen fillings (embarrassing….i brush and floss constantly too but just have soft teeth :( ) and sometimes the fillings are uncomfortable or sensitive at first but never after a month and they should definitely not chip. maybe you should switch dentists.

@kutelilkat i evidently went blind and didnt see your comment above mine. good choice

@kutelilkat I hope you can find a good one who can help you.

thanks for the support and advice everyone.

@kutelilkat Good luck with your appointment, I hope its not a root canal, but if it is, then the pain will be gone as soon as you get the procedure.

it sounds like your fillings were composites which are a plastic and ceramic ‘filled’ material that conducts heat and cold much more readily and is also irritating to the pulp. they are much harder to place and shape therefore are not suited to large, weight bearing restorations. They can cause sensitivity that can take up to a year to resolve. You should be able to floss your teeth and nothing should be catching on that partial crown. I would complain until they re-did it, not that uncommon. good luck

The quality of your teeth is a result of genetics as well as hygiene. It’s very possible that the cavity was much deeper and you may need root canals. Are you taking ibuprofen to reduce inflammation? It should have been better within a week.

I did take some medicine yesterday only, just to see if it would help. It did a little I think. Something was not done right. I’ve got an apt. for tomorrow.

Keep us informed.

Not normal. You should have been to the dentist after just a couple of days (in my opinion). I sure would have been at his office or his house.

ok, today a new dentist told me everything looks fine and to just give it about 2 more weeks… and that hopefully the sensitivity to pressure and cold/hot will be gone by then…if nothing improves I need 1 or 2 root canals… :( I think I’ll try another dentist for a second opinion.

I tried telling him that one of the molar filling that is bothering me was ok until I ate some chips 2 days ago and now it hurts…but he didn’t care and didn’t even investigate the tooth. Uughh I’m tired of these dentists I keep finding! I guess I wont stop until I find a good one!

This one sounds as bad as the first. Unbelievable!

Keep up the hunt. You are bound to find one good one.

(Pay with checks so you can cancel on the moron dentists_.

Uh… be careful of @davidbetterman‘s advice to “cancel on the moron dentists”. You can’t just cancel a check that you’ve written for goods or services. “Bad service that’s not worth what you pay for it” is one thing, but voiding a check that you’ve written in payment of those services is fraud—the dentist won’t go to prison for being less than ideal. But if you try that advice, you just might.

@CyanoticWasp
Don’t worry. Checks are now treated as debit cards…immediate money transfers…so canceling is nigh on impossible.
But thanks so much for your invaluable legal advice.