Tooth Pain After Filling When Chewing – Is it Normal?

Have you ever had to deal with any type of excessive tooth decay? Well if you have, you certainly know the type of extreme pain and aggravation they can cause and add to your day. If you are ever experiencing any type of major tooth decay, you most likely will have to get one or more dental fillings in order to fix it.

A filling is an intensive dental procedure that helps to restore teeth that have had too much decay or a large infection. At the beginning of the procedure, tooth decay and bacteria are completely cleared out of the infected teeth. After the decay and infection have been removed, the remaining open cavity in the tooth is filled with a filling material. This action of filling in the open cavity is where this dental procedure gets its name.

While getting a proper filling should completely clear out the pain-causing infection, there is a number of cases where patients still feel some type of tooth pain after their fillingwhen chewing. Sometimes, this pain and discomfort is felt without any movement of the mouth at all.

Luckily, the pain, if any, that is felt by the patient after the procedure is usually quite a bit less severe than the pain caused by the initial tooth decay. However, any pain at all can be quite worrisome, especially after a dental procedure. But if you are feeling any tooth pain after filling, there is no major need to worry. There are actually quite a few different reasons that cause your discomfort or pain. Let’s take a closer look at this phenomenon below:

Tooth Pain After A Filling

As we stated before, pain or discomfort after a filling procedure is quite common. Many times, this pain can disappear by itself after a few days of rest. You did just have a dental professional poking around and scraping sensitive, infected material from your teeth recently, so it makes sense for there to be a little bit of sensitivity for a few days after the procedure. However, if this pain lasts for several days or weeks after the procedure, there may be something wrong with your filling.

The type of filling material that is used to fill up the open cavities in your teeth can cause some discomfort and sensitivity. It is possible that you are allergic to the filling material. However, this is very rare because a properly qualified dentist will have asked and checked you about any allergies you may have to avoid this problem.

However, filling materials made of composite resin have had some history of causing sensitivity in teeth after a filling procedure. This is thought to be due to the fact that composite resins have a tendency to shrink a little bit and can leave an empty space between the remaining natural tooth and filling.

You can avoid this issue by asking your dentist about other filling materials or varying the method by which the composite resin filling is placed.

Tooth pain and sensitivity after a filling could also occur if the filling itself has moved or wasn’t positioned properly. If this occurs (or you experience any other type of an extended period of pain after a filling), you will need to make an appointment with your dentist to get it repositioned and fixed.

These are not problems that can fix themselves. However, with the care of a properly qualified dental profession, your filling and teeth can be brought back to a pain-free condition. If you are dealing with any type of tooth pain after a filling or simply need a filling in the first place, please contact us anytime at Gables Sedation and Family Dentistry. It would be our pleasure to restore your teeth back to working order!