Ongoing Pain after Dental Filling - What Should I Do?

mboy on 23/05/2025 - 19:51
Last edited 23/05/2025 - 19:58 by 1 other user

I had a filling done in February at a reputable local Dental Clinic that I've been going to for 5+ years. Since that filling, I have intermittent sharp pains when biting on the tooth that had the filling done. Even soft stuff like rice or salad will often trigger the pain. It's becoming very annoying to live with - I've been forcing myself to chew on one side of my mouth but I'll occasionally forget.

Since February, I've been back to the dentist 4 times to try and fix the issue:

  1. Assessment, polishing the filling and fluoride varnish (~10 mins)
  2. Assessment and fluoride varnish (~5 mins)
  3. Filling replaced (ie. re-do) (~25 mins)
  4. Assessment, xray, polishing the filling and fluoride varnish (~15 mins)

In each of these visits, I was told to wait 1-2 weeks for the filling to settle, which it never did. In the most recent visit, I was told to wait 1-2 months.

My main issue now is that although each of these subsequent 4 visits were no-gap, they still charged my health insurance, so they've exhausted my 'General Dental' limit. That means that if I go to another dentist to get a second opinion, I'll be paying completely out of pocket, which is a tough pill to swallow - tougher still if it's a chewable pill.

So what should I do? Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Should the same clinic be responsible for providing me with a resolution (especially since they've already drained my extras quota)?

Health & Beauty Dental

Comments

  • dan2k on 26/05/2025 - 10:33

    I had a similar issue, where after a filling was replaced, I had a lot of pain every time anything was squashed between the painful tooth (rear molar) and it's upper counterpart (ie regular chewing of anything hard).

    I went back to my dentist 4 times to resolve it, each time they tried a different approach trimming the filling down. Eventually solved by cutting away part of the tooth so it can no longer touch the tooth opposite. its shorter now, basically.

    But they DIDN'T charge for any of the subsequent visits at all. so winning I guess?

  • takezo on 26/05/2025 - 11:21
    +1

    I had heaps of sensitivity a year or so back. One of teeth had an old filling which was replaced, however the sensitivity persisted. Eventually it became full on pain in other areas. I removed a wisdom tooth which the dentist thought may have been putting pressure and causing the issue. NY eve a few years back the pain was unbearable and my regular dentist was closed.

    Went and saw a dentist at a place nearby which was open. Within about 10 minutes the dentist had x-rayed my teeth and said I had pretty bad gum disease. He deep cleaned the areas which were aching and referred me to a periodontist. All of this came as a shock as I had been seeing my dentist every 6 months for a check up and clean for over 10 years and he'd not once mentioned anything about serious gum disease.

    My teeth are now pain free and have not been sensitive in over a year (with a new dentist obviously). So in a long winded way I'd say make sure your gums are healthy as they could be causing the issues.

    • Protractor on 26/05/2025 - 20:57

      Crikey!
      I mentioned incompetent butcher dentists s in an earlier post and got multiple negs. Clearly there's more than a few butcher dentists on Ozbargain and in the industry. In a shirt winded way I'd say OP might have a solution by now if they had switched butchers.

      • takezo on 27/05/2025 - 11:34
        +2

        I think it may be related to the generation in which they studied. From what I understand there's a much greater emphasis placed on healthy gums now than there would have been 30/40 years back. Definitely not an excuse but possibly an explanation.

  • Vomo on 26/05/2025 - 19:40

    Sorry to hear. I had the ceramic filling as it was on the front of the tooth near the gum where food was getting caught.

    Pain eating, pressing down when chewing for months. I went back and they put fluoride on it and the pain went away after a few days. Could have been a coincidence.

    They eventually told me it’s because the ceramic doesn’t meld to the tooth as well as the amalgam.

    On a brighter note, I had a heavily decaying wisdom tooth pulled out in the chair for $200. Healed perfectly and so glad it’s gone.

  • MassEffect on 26/05/2025 - 20:44

    Did the dentist do an x-ray? Could be a root canal infection.

  • tenpercent on 26/05/2025 - 21:00

    Codeine + ask for a refund.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join