Hi Mytoothhurts2,

I am in the dental field and can offer you some information here. By now you may have already been back to your dentist.

I will re post some of your thread and answer you in bold type.

<<About 2 months ago, I had my lower left impacted wisdom tooth extracted. I lost the clot within the first couple of days but it wasn't a dry socket just healed a little slowly and I had some jaw soreness that seemed to improve over time.>>

THE FORMATION AND RETENTION OF THE BLOOD CLOT IS NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE BONE FROM BACTERIA AND INFECTION. SO IF THE CLOT DID NOT FORM PROPERLY OR IT DISLODGE EARLY ON WITHIN THE FIRST FEW DAYS THEN THE BONE WAS VULNERABLE TO BACTERIA. I MENTION THIS BECAUSE OF WHAT SEEMS TO HAVE PROCEEDED SINCE THAT TIME.

<< The filling gave me nothing but trouble from the beginning - you could see just by looking at it the the dentist had built the tooth up to be a lot bigger than the original tooth - the filling was especially sensitive to hot and cold and biting down.>>

THE DENTIST MAY HAVE MISJUDGED THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THIS FILLING BECAUSE OF THE EMPTY SPACE FROM THE RECENT EXTRACTION OF THE WISDOM TOOTH. SIMPLY BECAUSE THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF A NEW FILLING NEEDS TO FIT IN ACCORDANCE TO THE ADJACENT TEETH AND THE BITE. THE TEMPERATURE SENSITIVITY IS NORMAL FOR A NEW FILLING, ESPECIALLY IF IT WAS LARGE AND/OR DEEP. HOWEVER THAT SHOULD NOT LINGER FOR MORE THAN A WEEK OR SO.

<< When I called the dentist's office (my dentist was by now on holiday ) and they read his notes they told me it may be the wisdom tooth extraction site as it was inflamed and I had gingivitis there on the day of the filling - the dentist made no mention of this to me.>>

OF COURSE THE DENTIST SHOULD HAVE INFORMED YOU OF THESE FINDINGS ESPECIALLY SINCE HE FELT THEY WERE SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH TO NOTE IN YOUR CHART. ALSO AS A SIDE NOTE... DRILLING INTO A TOOTH CAUSES BACTERIA TO FLY ALL OVER THE PLACE SO IDEALLY THE WISDOM TOOTH SITE NEEDED TO BE CLOSED OVER BEFORE ANY DRILLING WAS DONE.

<<The junior dentist did say the filling is quite close to the pulp.>>

THIS COULD BE WHY YOU ARE EXPERIENCING THESE SYMPTOMS. THE PULP BECOMES INFLAMED FROM DRILLING AND WORKING ON THE TOOTH ESPECIALLY IF THE DECAY WAS NEAR THE PULP. IF THE PULP WAS NOT EXPOSED DURING THE DRILLING AND IF THE FILLING FITS WELL INTO YOUR BITE SO YOU ARE NOT HITTING THAT TOOTH ABNORMALLY HARD, THEN IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE INFLAMED PULP TO CALM DOWN. BUT THIS COULD TAKE WEEKS.

<< A couple of days after the filling I started on Amoxicillin as I also developed tonsillitis, an after hours doctor then swapped me to penicillin VK.
This morning I went to my GP as I was in pain and dizzy and she says some of my pain is in my glands rather than my jaw and has now swapped me over to Clindamycin. She didn't seem to think there was an abscess but suggested I go back to the oral surgeon - which I can't get into until Friday.>>

IN CASE YOU ARE NOT AWARE... IT IS IMPORTANT TO SUPPLEMENT WITH A PROBIOTIC ANY TIME THAT YOU TAKE AN ANTIBIOTIC BECAUSE THE ANTIBIOTICS WILL DESTROY THE HEALTHY BACTERIA IN YOUR INTESTINES WHICH CAN MAKE YOU VERY ILL. PROBIOTICS ARE HEALTHY BACTERIAS THAT REPLACE THOSE DESTROYED BY THE MEDICATION. IT IS IDEAL TO A PROBIOTIC ONE HOUR PRIOR TO YOUR ANTIBIOTIC OR TWO HOURS AFTER AS THEY EACH CAN INTERFERE WITH THE ABSORPTION IF TAKEN TOO CLOSELY. IT IS ALSO IDEAL TO CONTINUE ON THE PROBIOTIC FOR SEVERAL WEEKS OR MORE AFTER THE LAST ANTIBIOTIC PILL IS TAKEN TO CONTINUE TO REPLENISH THE GOOD BACTERIA TO HELP KEEP YOU WELL. IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH PROBIOTICS AND WANT INFORMATION ABOUT THEM, LET ME KNOW.

<<My face is only slightly swollen on that side but I've just woken up at 5 am because of the pain. Does anyone have clue about what may be going on? Nerve pain? Jaw infection? Is it the extraction site or the filled tooth? I do think a little bit of it is TMJ but there is something else going on too.>>

I THINK IT WOULD BE WISE TO CALL THE ORAL SURGEON AND EXPLAIN THE CHANGE AND SEVERITY OF YOUR SYMPTOMS TO GET IN TO SEE HIM SOONER.

<<Oh, and I must mention that one of the upper premolars on the same side was re - root canaled back in October and still had the temp filling when I got the wisdom tooth extracted. With the extraction, the root canaled tooth became the most painful tooth in my mouth so it has been left with the temp filling to settle - it seems to get referred pain from the other 2 teeth that are currently in pain. Otherwise my teeth are all good, other than minor fillings to date the only work I had had done was that 1 root canal.>>

THE ORAL SURGEON SHOULD ALSO TAKE AN XRAY OF THAT RECENTLY ROOT CANALED TOOTH TO EVALUATE IT. ROOT CANALED TEETH ARE NEVER MADE HEALTHY AGAIN BECAUSE THE HUNDREDS OF TINY CANALS THAT ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE REMAIN INFLAMED AND INFECTED. THE ROOT CANAL PROCEDURE IS DONE TO RETAIN A NON VITAL TOOTH, IT IS NOT DONE TO CURE AN INFECTION. SO IT IS VERY COMMON FOR ROOT CANALED TEETH TO BE PROBLEMATIC.

I hope this information has been helpful. Please check back with us with any more concerns or questions.

Bryanna