Expert: Mark Bornfeld DDS - 8/6/2006

Question
2 weeks ago a dentist put a small filling in my front tooth.  The dentist was very rough and forced abrasive paper between the teeth which were very close together causing my head to rotate repeatedly.  I went to hospital who say the xray shows the filling is not near the nerve and it must be the trauma of the treatment.  Sensodyne and mouthwashes and clove oil make no difference. The tooth has a wooden feeling to it and the adjacent tooth surface was scored as well.  The dental hospital told me the abrasive strips are only supposed to be applied to the filling not the rest of the tooth, but in my case the dentist has used them to reshape the whole tooth.  Another dentist i've been to told me to have it root filled which I do not really want.  Please can you suggest anything?  Is it worth having the filling taken out and replaced?  

Answer
Dear Mr. Pakinson,

Postoperative symptoms following the placement of a filling are quite common, and although they are seldom described as tingling and numbness, this probably just represents the subjective nature of these symptoms. (I will assume for the purpose of this question that you are not experiencing numbness in soft tissue such as your lip or tongue, which suggests something else.)

It is probably unwise to intervene too quickly in these situations, since further manipulation of the tooth may only serve to irritate it more. Unless the symptoms are particularly severe, it is wiser to allow them to resolve on their own. If the filling is small as you say, the probability that you need root canal therapy is low.

If the passage of a few more weeks' time does not bring at least some reduction in the severity of symptoms, you should then return to your dentist for further assessment of the situation.

Of course, if the surfaces of the teeth were scored or in some other way damaged, this should be repaired as well. However, I think the priority here is to allow the symptoms to resolve first; early intervention may only serve to add additional symptoms and further cloud the diagnostic picture.

Good luck!

Mark Bornfeld DDS
www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY