Pain after white fillings
Saturday, July 19th, 2008Dr. McKay,
My wife’s dentist put in some white fillings, and she really liked them, so when I needed two fillings I asked my dentist to give me white ones. She was reluctant, said the silver fillings were better, and warned me about possible infection from saliva contamination. Well, I had them anyway. That was about a week ago. And not only was the procedure quite painful, but now I have a constant aching on that side. I’m taking Advil for the pain.
What should I do? Is this likely to clear up on its own? I’m reluctant to call my dentist back.
- Mark in Seattle
Mark,
It’s generally not a good idea to try to push your dentist out of his or her comfort zone. Now you know why your dentist was reluctant to do these — she’s unfamiliar with the proper technique for doing them, but was naturally reluctant to frankly admit that.
When a dentist knows the proper technique for placing white fillings, I think you will find that he or she will far prefer doing white fillings to doing the old silver/mercury amalgam. We all take pride in our work, and the white fillings are not only beautiful, but they are sealed to the teeth, they contain no toxic mercury, and there is usually zero post-operative sensitivity, besides which the patients love them. Naturally, we love doing work like that. So if your dentist doesn’t offer you the option for doing white fillings, I wouldn’t bring it up.
What should you do now? I’d go to a dentist who knows how to do these white fillings properly and have them replaced. We’d be happy to see you here, of course, if that is your choice. You may not get insurance coverage for their replacement because of the restrictions of some dental insurance plans, but I still wouldn’t risk the continuing damage to your teeth. Not only have bacteria been allowed to contaminated the dentinal tubules inside your teeth, but the fillings aren’t sealed and will be constantly leaking, continuing to irritate the teeth.
Related links:
Read about mercury-free fillings.
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