How long is toothache normal after a filling?
Toothache after a filling is very common and normal. How severe the pain is depends on how deep the carious destruction has penetrated. The tooth is very sensitive after the dental surgery, so you should be especially careful not to eat too hard, sweet, sour or extremely hot or cold food to allow the tooth to regenerate.
In the first hours after the treatment, the pain can be constant. This hypersensitivity can last from three to seven days to several weeks. It is only important that the pain does not get worse. However, if it lasts longer or feels rather dull or throbbing, a new visit to the dentist is inevitable, as it could be an overlooked so-called inflammation of the tooth root (periodontitis). A long lasting irritation of the tooth can lead to its dying off, which is why it is always important to observe the course and duration of the pain and to have it clarified if necessary.
Toothache when chewing after a filling
Once a tooth has been treated with a filling, pain can occur, especially when eating and drinking. There are several reasons for this. One reason is that the filling is too high and therefore interferes with the bite.
The tooth is therefore too heavily loaded. The dentist has probably not grinded the filling enough. Another option is that the artificial crown is too low, so that the teeth do not fit together properly.
Even the slightest unevenness or a change in familiar situations can cause the muscles to cramp or the temporomandibular joint to be out of position. The opposite tooth can also begin to hurt over time due to the high pressure. Therefore it is always important to pay attention to the correct height of the teeth.
However, it can be difficult to judge during an existing anaesthesia if something is disturbing. If necessary, the dentist may have to shorten or raise the filling after the anesthesia has worn off. Another reason for pain while chewing is a grinding trauma of the tooth due to its substance removal with a drill.Even if the filling therapy is already completed, painful reactions may occur after some time, especially when chewing hard food.
In addition, the toothache can be caused by the fact that the filling leaks at its edges and thus the smallest components of the food accumulate in it. Depending on how long this condition lasts or the longer the filling has been in place, it can lead to so-called secondary, i.e. subsequent, caries, which destroys the teeth under the filling. This then causes the typical unpleasant caries pain. However, if the pain occurs immediately after the filling has been placed, especially an amalgam filling, it is also possible that the pain is aggravated by the consumption of very hot or very cold food, which is due to the fact that amalgam as a metal conducts cold and heat near the sensitive tooth pulp. Even very sweet or sour drinks, such as lemonades or juices, can penetrate microscopic channels in the tooth and cause pain.
