I am 13 weeks pregnant with my 3rd child. I lost a filling last week. I called a new dentist, since our insurance changed, I cant see my old dentist. They had me come in, and the filling I lost was so small, that it wasnt something that needed to be repaired while I was pregnant.
I mentioned I had some discomfort in another area of my mouth, and the dentist did see I had a cavity. I agreed to ONE x-ray so they could see how deep it was. They put two lead drapes on me, to be extra careful.
The xray showed the cavity was deep, but I would get away with just a filling. So I had that tooth filled that day. With a white filling. Not the metal kind.
Here I am 5 days later, and the tooth is KILLING me. It hurts so bad. The day of and the day after the filling it was a little sensitive, but I thought that was just b/c I had been drilled. And the tooth needed to heal. A few days after that, it felt fine. But now it hurts much worse that it EVER DID. Even more than it did before I went to the dentist.
Of course I am thinking the worst, and that I may need a root canal. Is that even safe to do when pregnant?
I'm going to call first thing in the morning. But I was wondering if anybody else had a similar experience... And did it have a happy ending?? Please tell me it did. ;)
I called my dentist this morning. I explained the pain I was having and I'm going to see her this afternoon. She is hoping that the filling just needs to be adjusted. But if its the nerve that is causing the pain, there will be a root canal in my future. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for sharing your stories with me. :)
****Well I'm home from the dentist. I needed a root canal. She was very understanding of my pregnancy. It was better to get it fixed then to live with the pain and risk an infection. The root canal wasnt bad. I'm sore. Hoping this will finally fix the problem. Thanks Moms for your input!
I had some work done when I was 12 weeks pregnant. Not as major as a root canal, but my dentist did request that my obgyn provide him with details on what he/she would allow. He wrote it all on a prescription, and I provided that to the dentist. As a recall, local anesthesia is okay, epinephrine is not (which means you will bleed a lot, since that is used to slow/clot blood quicker).
Hi Crytal,
I totally feel your pain. I was literally in the same situation about 2 weeks ago, though Im not pregnant. I had a cavitiy filled which ended up turning into a root canal. But the infection was so bad I had to take antibiotics for two weeks to get rid of the absest that formed inside. That could be what is causing all the pain becuase when they brought me back in for another Xray the absest they showed me on the Xray clearly wasnt there before.
Its horrible to go through, especially while pregnant. Considering you cant take anything for the pain. I hope they figure it out. Good luck.
A couple things could be going on but the one that comes to mind first is that the filling changed the way your teeth are meeting. Call the dentist and have him check your bite. I'll bet that there's a high spot on the filling that is throwing everything out of alignment causing the pain.
Hello - I can definitely relate to this - there's a wonderful connection between having children and dental issues. In a situation like this, you have to weigh the benefits vs the risks. It sounds like you've got an infection, and trust me, you cant afford to put it off while pregnant. Or, you'll end up like me, needing an implant but wont be able to get one (maybe a bridge), and it all started with a cavity. Maybe they can try giving u a round of antibiotics, but it sounds like they're gonna have to go in there and clear it out. A root canal isn't that bad - the worst part, in my opinion, is having the needle stuck in the roof of your mouth or in the gums to get the novacaine in (and if you can survive labor pains...) anyway I just had one last week, actually...and had my 2nd child 3 months ago. The filling was done a year ago and it just started hurting in the past few months - turns out it was deep enough that the filling only worked for a little while. They might need to take a few more X-rays but if you're double shielded u should be fine. Heck, I didn't know I was pregnant with my 2nd child til I was 14 wks along and had Xrays and dental work done at 10 or 11 weeks. I was upset at first when i realized this, but nothing i can do about it now, and my boy is fine. Anyway, with the root canal I just had, they had me take antibiotics just to be safe. I didnt want to tho cuz I nurse my son. But I had to...and dealt with a few really messy diapers and colicky nights...i took all but 4 of them(cuz I felt bad for my son!)...Now I need crowns but lost my job (the place I worked at closed while I was out on maternity leave - !) so I have to wait til I get medicaid to do anything...
anyway, discuss your options with your dentist and OB, even your primary. They'll probably tell u the same thing. Teeth take a toll when we have kids - so definitely up your calcium intake (at least 1,200 mg/day). Keep in mind too that Iron inhibits Calcium absorption, so don't take calcium with your prenatal.
Hope this helps and good luck!
I just want to say good for you not getting a metal filling. It may very well be that you just need an adjustment. This happened to my husband. He was in terrible pain which stopped after they just filed it down a bit. Who knew?
I would not have a root canal while pregnant.
God Bless,
G.
Hi Crystal,
I hope you don't end up needing a root canal.
I needed to have a crown replaced while I have been pregnant, and was assured that the anesthetic does NOT affect the baby in any way.
On a different occasion, I had some dental work done and afterward, I'd get these sharp shooting pains in my tooth. Turned out, the filling was too high (ie, too much, needed to be filed down) and the pain was caused by the pressure on the tooth from chewing. Simply taking some off the top of the filling resolved the problem.
I hope it turns out to be this.
:)
I had to have a root canal when I was about 30 weeks pregnant. They said the pain would go away within a day or two of having it. But OMG the pain was so much worse, kind of like you are describing. The pain ended up being because the nerves were inflamed. They gave me a prescription to help with that and everything was so much better. The root canal itself is safe but some of the prescriptions they can order afterward are iffy so make sure you check with your OB before taking anything.
I had a similar problem in the beginning of my pregnancy. It turned out to be asinus infection & had nothing to do with my recent filling. The filling was in the top of my mouth & it turned out that the while the dentist putting the needle in my gums she entered into my nasal cavity causing a sinus infection. My dentist had no idea what it was & actually wanted to pull my wisdom tooth but once I went to my dr. & was given antibiotics it was much better.
Hi Crystal,
I don't know what is going on with dental work lately, but I can assure you the pain is always longer. Last year I got two cavities filled and it took 6 months for me to comfortably chew on that side. After a few days of pain I went back in to see what waas up and they made sure my teeth were filed properly to my bite, but nothing else was wrong. Dentist told me I have sensitive teeth, never had before the fillings.... anyway this month I had another filled a little deeper than the others and same deal painful for days and still uncomfortable to chew. It seems to be the m.o. I wish you luck and I hope it's just overly sensitive teeth, a root canal would be a drag but it is doable during pregnancy I would just keep my OBGYN in the loop. A. B
I had a deep filling done. The throbbing pain would even wake me up at night if I didn't take a tylenol before bed. BUT my dentist, Dr. Lombardi, hoped I could give it a little more time, to see if the nerve would settle down on it's own. Sure enough, the pain started to let up after two weeks...then within a week after that, it was gone. This took place after my twin pregnancy last year.
But while I was pregnant, I was referred to this dental practice because I wanted to replace many very old metal fillings... one of the fillings had already broken off showing decay underneath....and I read that gum disease, etc. are a risk for pre-term labor.
They have all the new modern equipment...I knew I was in the right place.
Maybe another professional opinion is a good idea before someone starts more work on your mouth.
Dr. Lombardi/Dr. Bastiani in Danbury ####-###-####
don't worry, I had a double root canal done and a tooth extraction all done while pregnant with my twin boys. You probably do need a root canal. Don't worry it can be done with novacaine and that doesn't hurt the baby.
I hate to tell you this, but my sister in law just had this same problem last week. She had a tooth filled and then 3 days later she needed a root canal. I would call your dentist and your OB. Your OB will be able to tell you what procedures and medications are safe during pregnancy. Good Luck
