Archive for August, 2010

Did my dentist ruin my new onlay?

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

On one of the onlays the dentist recently put in, she filed it so far down (to adjust the bite, she said), that now there’s a sort of crater in the tooth that’s about 3 or 4 mm in diameter, and the color of the tooth there is gray. I think she filed it down way too far. My question is can that onlay be repaired by filling that area the dentist filed too much off of with a composite filling, as if she were filling a cavity? Or is that onlay ruined now? I had told the dentist that tooth was hurting a lot whenever I tried to chew anything, and that I was feeling a really deep-down sensitivity. But she kept telling me the tooth was fine, and she would not acknowledge that she had filed too much off of the onlay. I’m wondering if the onlay is ruined, or if it can be repaired by filling it in with a composite material? I’m hoping that maybe then there will be more of a covering on that part of the tooth, and then the deep sensitivity will stop and also I’ll be able to chew on it without pain. What do you think?
- Monica

Monica,
I’m guessing from what you’re telling me that this is a porcelain onlay that you’re talking about and not a gold onlay, since you mentioned that it now looks gray.

Sometimes, if the tooth wasn’t reduced enough in the preparation appointment and if something wasn’t done right with your bite, or if there’s a problem in seating the restoration accurately, you can end up with a lot of adjustment being required to get the tooth to fit the bite. Usually this won’t affect the integrity of the restoration, but it could. I can’t really tell from what you’ve told me if it has or hasn’t. But repairing it with a composite filling wouldn’t help. If you wear through the onlay later, then a repair could be an option to replacing the onlay. My guess would be that the onlay is fine, but maybe not.

But I’m concerned about the pain you’re feeling when you’re chewing. You’re talking about a deep sensitivity in this tooth. I’m wondering if your tooth is infected.

I’d suggest getting a second opinion. Get a recommendation of a dentist you feel you can trust and ask him or her to x-ray this tooth and examine it to see if it’s okay. That will answer the question about possible infection, and if there is enough onlay left on the tooth to protect the tooth.

Dr. Hall

Problems with your bite can lead to TMJ disorder. Read about Boca Raton TMJ Dentist Dr. Kagan.

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Toothaches after new fillings

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

I hadn’t been to the dentist in a while and I finally went and had 6 cavities. I’ll admit I wasn’t flossing like I should and most of the cavities were in between teeth. Anyway I had 2 on the upper left, 3 on the lower bottom, and one on the upper right. I had the ones on the top left filled and those are good-no problems. I then went back and had the 3 done on the bottom left. That was sore the first night but then was fine, for 2 days. Then one of them in the back started hurting, everyday all day long to where I couldn’t sleep through the night without waking up, for a week and a half. So a few days later I went back and had the upper right one filled and told my dentist about this pain. He then referred me to a root canal specialist. I went there and ended up having a root canal ( she said because that tooth had been worked on so much over the years that eventually they just don’t get better. Fine. So I now have to pay for a filling that was useless. On top of the root canal and all of the other fillings. Well that same day (8-13-10) one of my molars on the right bottom started hurting, nonstop unless I take medicine every couple hours. Right now it is killing me, this is without eating/drinking, anything to where I cannot stand it, it’s making me! cry. Co uld this be related to all this work I have had done in about a month? I really don’t want to do anything else and I can’t really afford it. When I had went the first time he took x-rays and examined my teeth and this tooth was never mentioned and it was fine, until last Friday. I don’t know what to do. The dentist did use white filling on all these cavities, some that used to have the silver filling. I just can’t take it anymore. I have ibuprofen but when I take it it makes me feel sick so I can’t stand taking it anymore either. I’ve never been one to complain about pain and usually don’t take anything for anything and I’m fine but this is just driving me crazy. Help? Thank you.
- Sarah from Kentucky

Sarah,
Your problems with the teeth hurting wouldn’t be from the number of fillings you had but from how big the cavities were. When you don’t go for a long period of time, the cavities keep growing. And what happens is that the dentist gets the decay out and fills the tooth. But if the decay was deep enough so that it is close to the pulp of your tooth, there will always be some bacteria that get into your pulp. The dentin on the inside of the tooth is porous and this is what happens. So you have these bacteria in the pulp, and the tooth is a little irritated from having been worked on, and it starts an infection in your tooth that results in this toothache pain that you’re having. Unfortunately, once the inside of the tooth gets infected, the only way to treat that is with a root canal treatment.

Nothing you have said gives me any indication that your dentist did anything wrong.

I hope this is helpful to you.

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Follow-up to Question about Pulpotomy and Root Canal

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Last week we posted an answer to a question from Emily from Texas. She wanted to know if she should follow her dentist’s advice and get a root canal, and questioned the earlier need for a pulpotomy. We reassured her and told her about the importance of being able to trust her dentist. Find a dentist you can trust and then trust him or her – it’s a good rule.

Here’s her response:
Thank you very much for your response. I had it done today with less fear and more confidence in my dentist. It still hurts but I guess I’ll be ok in a couple of days.
- Emily from Texas

Links: see the original posting: My tooth doesn’t hurt – why did it need a pulpotomy?
Read more about root canal treatments.

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