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Is it normal to experience tooth sensitivity months after filling? Or do you need to worry about it? This article will discuss what causes tooth sensitivity and when you should be worried about it. If you have tooth sensitivity but do not have yet receive any dental treatment, you can visit www.adcdubbodentist.com.au to check the underlying cause of your symptoms.
What Is Tooth Sensitivity?
When you have sensitive teeth, you may notice that specific triggers cause a transitory, uncomfortable sensation in the filled tooth or surrounding region. It might sense like a stun of cold or abrupt pain that goes ahead quickly and disappears. In any case, teeth sensitivity is a typical side-effect a patient can get after a dental treatment like tooth extraction or a dental filling. The explanation for the sensitivity is generally the irritation of nerves inside the tooth after the procedure.
Features that can cause tooth sensitivity after a dental filling include:
- hot drinks like tea or coffee
- cold foods or beverages like popsicles, ice cream, or drinks with ice
- sugary foods, such as candy
- biting down when eating
- acidic foods and drinks, such as fruit, coffee, and juice
- air hitting the tooth, for example, when breathing through the mouth, which might be worse with cold air
Reasons for Tooth Sensitivity Months After Filling
Tooth sensitivity just after dental treatment is normal. However, if the sensitivity continues weeks or even months after the procedure, it might indicate a serious complication that needs prompt consideration.
Here are some of the reasons why you are experiencing tooth sensitivity months after filling.
An Irritated Nerve
Temporary tooth sensitivity after a filling generally happens because the filling technique can cause soreness in the nerve within the tooth.
Typically, the tooth’s external layers, the enamel and cementum, keep the nerve from exposure. In any case, fillings, particularly profound ones, can draw near sensitive spots and cause aggravation and uncomfortable sensations.
As the nerve recovers, the sensitivity will disappear. This may require a couple of days or weeks. When the nerve recovers completely, an individual should feel no distinction between the filled tooth and other teeth. If the sensitivity continues for months or you encounter other dental problem like tooth pain whenever you eat, contact your dentist immediately.
Pulpitis
Pulpitis is irritation of the pulp deep within the tooth. It can result in tooth sensitivity and pain.
This condition does not regularly happen with minor fillings, yet it may occur if:
- the cavity was extremely deep, reaching the inner pulp layer
- the tooth has an injury, for example, from an accident that causes a broken or cracked tooth.
- the tooth has undergone several fillings or dental procedures
- Reversible pulpitis is the mild inflammation where the pulp stays healthy, and the tooth will recover independently.
- Irreversible pulpitis happens when a damaged nerve begins to die, in which case an individual will require a root canal treatment to keep the tooth.
Generally, a dentist can treat pulpitis with a new filling or a therapeutic method like a root canal treatment. An individual may likewise have to take antibiotics to clear any bacterial infection.
Dental Filling Interfering with The Bite
In case the filling is mistakenly positioned or is disrupting the bite, it might disintegrate when the individual is eating, causing cracks on the dental filling. If you neglect a poorly fitted filling, it may fall or break, uncovering the tooth. That is why you must see a dentist if you have incorrectly installed dental filling so that the dentist can smooth down the high point and reshape the filling.
Cracks and Damage to The Filling or Teeth
Damage to the filling or teeth may uncover nerves and sensitive tissues within the tooth, triggering tooth sensitivity whenever presented to hot or cold drinks.
Maintaining good oral health should be your first concern when confronting mouth issues like these.
- You might need to use a special toothpaste for sensitive teeth.
- Gently rinse your mouth with salty warm water
- Brush and floss your teeth regularly
Oral Infection
There is a slight possibility that an infection has emerged after the filling, causing inconvenience and throbbing pain.
Allergies
In case a person is allergic to the material used in the filling, this can cause the tooth to become sensitive.
How to Treat A Sensitive Tooth?
When an individual experiences ordinary, post-filling sensitivity, a dentist may suggest using desensitizing toothpaste. This product has an element called potassium nitrate that stops the sensations outside the tooth from arriving at the sensitive spots inside. Furthermore, this item may not work promptly. However, an individual should notice relief within a few days if they use the toothpaste two times per day.
You may also try the following techniques at home to help ease tooth sensitivity:
Topical numbing cream intended for the mouth
- Over-the-counter medicines, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen
- A toothbrush intended for sensitive teeth. This product is softer compared to a regular toothbrush.
- Brush with tender, circular strokes on the teeth and gums. Aggressive flossing and brushing teeth can promote teeth sensitivity.
- Avoid whitening toothpaste and products, which can aggravate sensitivity.
- Floss daily, taking care to be gentle on the teeth and gums.
- Be aware of what foods or beverages trigger sensitivity and stay away from them whenever possible.
- Gargle with water after consuming acidic foods or drinks like fruit and coffee. Acidic food sources and refreshments can damage the tooth enamel.
- Try not to brush your teeth right after consuming acidic foods, as it might eliminate a more significant amount of enamel.
In case of tooth sensitivity does not become better in the days after a filling, contact your dentist. Fundamentally, the dentist precludes other possible causes of sensitivity that he may not identify with the dental filling.
Conclusion
If a patient encounters tooth sensitivity months after filling, one can expect an underlying reason. The average timeframe for tooth sensitivity following a filling up a decay should only be a couple of days to a few weeks. If the tooth sensitivity keeps on after this period, it is an indication that there is something wrong.
The best thing to do is to visit your dentist. The dentist will check the problem of the tooth or filling and give treatment to eliminate the tooth sensitivity and pain.
