Expert: Rafael Mosery,D.D.S. - 9/26/2007

Question
QUESTION: I finished my freshman year of college, and made the mistake of drinking too much soda. When I came home for the summer and had a check-up, I was told I had SEVEN cavities! I was shocked, but I know I needed to get them filled and fixed. However, after they were filled and the numbness wore off, I felt pain and sensitivity that wasn't there before they were filled. Now it has been almost a month, and the pain and sensitivity is still there. I cannot go to my dentist because I go to college 450 miles away from home. So, please help me get rid of this pain! Thank you!

ANSWER: If the pain is related to the restorations as you describe ,the only solution would be to visit a dentist locally and have them check it out. There's no shortcut that would solve your problem without a dentist.

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QUESTION: What could the problem be? I don't understand why they would just start to hurt and get sensitive on me.

Answer
If the decay was deep,even though originally you didn't have any pain, after excavating all the decay the nerve could get inflamed.
Reversible inflammation-goes away and gets better
Irreversible inflammation- sensitivity doesn't improve,gets worse.Usually pain on hot is not a good sign.
This is why it would be nice to have this checked out.
The other thing is the restorations could be leaky,in that they're not sealing the tooth properly only the dentist will be able to verify what's going on.