Amalgam filling sensitivity?

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

allenjo5@mail.northgrum.com - 08 Jan 2007 22:50 GMT

As a kid, the family dentist used some sort of non-amalgam
tooth-colored fillings in my teeth. Never had a problem with them and
they were unobtrusive so I liked them. A few years later, that dentist
retired and 10 years ago his partner put in a small amalgam filling in
the fifth tooth back on one side of my lower jaw. Again, never had
any problems with it. A few weeks ago at my annual checkup, one of
the original non-amalgam fillings in one of my molars started catching
the dentist's cavity detecting pick, and we decided to drill it out and
replace it with an amalgam filling. He felt that amalgam was the
best type of filling for this purpose, and I had no reason to argue.
This filling is on the opposite side from the first small amalgam
filling, and is much bigger.

Now, a few weeks later, I'm having strange sensations on the side of
the original amalgam filling: pain - not severe, but annoying,
tingling, metallic taste. The pain is less in the morning and gets
worse throughout the day. Some days it's worse than others. This
has been going on for 10 days or so. Now, I've read (via googling)
about electrical issues in the mouth caused by amalgam fillings, but I
don't know if there is anything to that. Is it possible that two
amalgam fillings is causing electrical activity that a single amalgam
filling didn't?

Of course, it's also possible that I'm coincidentally just having some
other tooth problem near the first amalgam filling that is entirely
unrelated to amalgam, but I find it a bit odd, especially since there
have been no other hints of problems there that the dentist has called
to my attention. I'll probably make another appointment to see him,
but I wanted to know if any dentists out there have heard of problems
caused by two amalgam fillings that were absent with just one filling.
I guess it seems far fetched...

BTW, I'm 43 years old, my teeth are in otherwise great shape, and I've
never had any problems other than cavities, and have never had any
dental pain of any sort prior to this.

Reply to this Message

Mark & Steven Bornfeld - 09 Jan 2007 15:03 GMT

> As a kid, the family dentist used some sort of non-amalgam
> tooth-colored fillings in my teeth. Never had a problem with them and
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> amalgam fillings is causing electrical activity that a single amalgam
> filling didn't?

Generally I've only seen galvanic sensitivity in my patients when two
dissimilar metals in adjacent teeth contact--say a gold inlay against an
amalgam filling--and usually not even then.
It isn't unusual to have some postop. sensitivity after any kind of
filling, but it should gradually diminish. If it does not, you should
have your dentist take a look--particularly if the decay was close to
the pulp.

Steve

> Of course, it's also possible that I'm coincidentally just having some
> other tooth problem near the first amalgam filling that is entirely
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> never had any problems other than cavities, and have never had any
> dental pain of any sort prior to this.

Signature

Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001

Reply to this Message

allenjo5@mail.northgrum.com - 11 Jan 2007 22:18 GMT

> > As a kid, the family dentist used some sort of non-amalgam
> > tooth-colored fillings in my teeth. Never had a problem with them and
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
> --
> Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS

Thanks for the response. I just saw my dentist and he said that the
two new x-rays he took today show that the root is very close to the
old amalgam filling. He also said that amalgam acts as an irritant
and over time the root can be affected by it, and could cause the root
to die. (This blew my mind: why are we using amalgam then?! Out of
shock I guess, I didn't ask him, but should have.) The x-ray also
showed what appeared to be a break in the root midway down the tooth -
i.e., the dark line of the root was interrupted by white. To me, it
didn't look much different from the tooth right next to it, but he
seemed convinced. He's going to send the x-rays to an Endodontist for
a second opinion. I'm to check back next week for the results - or
sooner if my pain increases significantly.

It look like I might be heading for a root canal dag nabbit! Is a root
canal at age 43 unusual?

Reply to this Message

Mark & Steven Bornfeld - 11 Jan 2007 23:18 GMT

>>>As a kid, the family dentist used some sort of non-amalgam
>>>tooth-colored fillings in my teeth. Never had a problem with them and
[quoted text clipped - 46 lines]
> It look like I might be heading for a root canal dag nabbit! Is a root
> canal at age 43 unusual?

Not at all. But if the root is indeed fractured, this may complicate
the outlook for the tooth. Good that an endodontist is looking at it.
As far as amalgam irritating the pulp--whatever problems there may or
may not be with amalgam (and if you read this newsgroup enough you'll
see it blamed for a lot), it is not an irritant to the pulp. It is an
excellent conductor of hot and cold, so esp. deep cavities will often be
sensitive to temperature changes after fillings. This is true of
amalgam fillings, but it is true of just about any filling material.
The real culprit is the deep decay, and possibly any irritation of the
nerve suffered from the removal of the decay and preparation of the
tooth for a filling.

Steve

Signature

Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001

Reply to this Message

allenjo5@mail.northgrum.com - 17 Jan 2007 15:52 GMT

> >>>As a kid, the family dentist used some sort of non-amalgam
> >>>tooth-colored fillings in my teeth. Never had a problem with them and
[quoted text clipped - 58 lines]
> nerve suffered from the removal of the decay and preparation of the
> tooth for a filling.

Well, now I'm really confused on what to do. The endodontist I saw did
not think a root canal was indicated at this time based on him being
unable to elicit pain by pulling/releasing pressure, or tapping. He
was able to make the area hurt with ice by applying it to the exposed
dentin on the suspect tooth, but I've had this type of problem for the
past 5 years, and it quickly goes away when the ice is removed. So, I
doubt it's related to the deeper more constant pain I feel. He was
almost certain that the xray showed that this 2nd bicuspid tooth had 2
or 3 roots, where a normal one has only 1. He said this would make a
root canal more difficult but I understood that it could likely still
be done successfully. But he did say it might take 3 or 4 visits
instead of 2. He also saw no sign of abscess or infection.

As for the metallic taste in my mouth on that side, he thought that was
probably due to the amalgam deteriorating. And based on that he
thought that having my normal dentist replace the filling would solve
that problem. But he did warn that if the tooth is still painful
after having the filling replaced, it would need a root canal. Is that
true? Even if there is no infection or dying root, a root canal is
necessary to eliminate the pain?

So, my intent now is to have my regular dentist replace the filling,
and if that doesn't fix it, I get the root canal. Or is this just a
waste of time and I'd be better off just doing the root canal right
away?

Oh, and to make matters worse, for whatever reason, it started to hurt
much more last night...<grrr>

John.

Reply to this Message