Terrified of infection from getting fillings

[UserName20]

I had 2 fillings done in the left back of my mouth yesterday. The dentist told me that the 2 were pretty deep and close to the nerve. After the numbness wore off yesterday and today my teeth that have fillings just feel achy... I have heard of infections and now I am really getting scared. I am checking my temp to make sure I don’t have a fever. I just feel off though... Has anyone else had a similar experience?

[NancyW]

Totally normal for newly filled teeth to ache don't give it another thought.

[bin tenn]

Infection isn't really something to be terrified of anyhow. I've had a handful of dental infections over the years, and all I had to do was see my dentist and take care of it. No problem. HOWEVER, I agree with NancyW - perfectly normal for aches following fillings.

[lebonvin]

Ditto

[UserName20]

Thank you guys. I agree- it was a couple of deep fillings and so I know it could take a while for the nerve to all settle down in there. I’m trying to remain optimistic. The only thing that scares me is the amount of xrays they did on my mouth from my first visit. I woke up in the middle of the night and the left side of my mouth is just aching something terrible.. I am starting to worry about mouth cancer or something else going on. If there is a bit of an infection I’m worried before Monday when I can call my dentist it’s going to go into my blood stream. I guess as you can tell my mind is just going 100 mph again. I feel panicky all over.

I’m not sure how I’ll afford a root canal if they determine I need one, medical bills are absolutely killing me at the moment. I had to drop my college classes to pay for my last scare about my chest in the en did July-August. I’m not handling all of this stress too well

[Scass]

I would try and give it a few more days if you can. Take paracetamol and hopefully it will feel better soon. I had a filling yesterday and it’s still aching today. I had a filling 3 weeks ago & I felt rubbish for days after.

[UserName20]

Thank you Scass, how many days did it take your mouth to feel better? I know especially with the fillings being deep my nerves may just be aggravated right now and not healed. However, it is now just a constant throb throughout my lower left back teeth where the 2 fillings were. And it hurts petty bad. :( I have been taking my temperature a lot today worrying that I have a fever and that I have an infection spreading through my body. The thermometer is reading 97.7-98.3. Obviously it isn’t telling me I have a fever but I’m worried it’s off.. normally it reads 96-97. And I felt chilly earlier.

Before they drilled my teeth they did many xrays a week or so before and told me no infection was present. It’s like I’m worried the dentist don’t use clean equipment or something... I just am so terrified. I left my dentist a voicemail and will hopefully be squeezed in on Monday.. I’m worried it’s sepsis.

I saw an Facebook and on oral cancer and now that fear is running through my mind too.

[Fishmanpa]

Do your parents know how much you're suffering with your anxiety?

Positive thoughts

[UserName20]

Yes, I came home from work today and was upset and told my dad how much my tooth was bugging me. He got mad and told me he’s “tired of this sh*t” and that “maybe I should just run back to the Er then.”

[UserName20]

All of these bills are completely being paid by me. I had to drop out of college to pay for everything. But my parents are extremely angry at me. Since I’m 19 and was in my second year of college I was working part time as a cashier to pay for my school. But now I am terrified of ruining my credit. Great start to my life

[Fishmanpa]

It's sad they don't understand the severity of your mental health nor seem willing to help you get the help you need :( Do you think they'd be open to discussing how severely this is affecting you and ask for their help?

Positive thoughts

[UserName20]

I had been to the doctor only a few times last year. Since I was on my parents insurance and I was paying for my college completely myself I had thought they were helping with appointments. ( obviously not my Er visit or anything major) However after my ER visit I have been having debt collectors call me for medical bills I never even knew about. I guess as soon as I turned 18 they didn’t pay for any more of my dr visits and I hadn’t realized the bills were even out there. After my ER visit in July my normal dr diagnosed me with anxiety and I am on medication. However I went back to the Dr. to talk about how well my medicine is working and they disagreed with me going back then too. Dropping out of college is just so tough on me to have came to that choice. I’m struggling so bad with anxiety. I really need therapy along with the medicine but I’m out of money. If this tooth needs a root canal I’m not sure what I’ll do. I’m frantically looking for a full time job now since I had to quit college so I am now free to work full time and my current job won’t offer full time. Which quitting college and having to give it up is so hard for me to accept ☹️

[Fishmanpa]

Why not check out the resources at www.mentalhealth.gov? Every state has resources and help available. I was able to get help with some depression after my illnesses through them. They can help refer you and there are groups that meet etc. Can't hurt to pick up the phone and inquire.

Positive thoughts

[Scass]

Ok, you’re spiralling with worry now. I expect you saw the oral cancer as ok your Facebook because you’ve been googling about oral care.

You’ve only just had the fillings, they will hurt for a while, especially if they are deep. Mine hurt for at least a week after the first one.

Try and give them a chance to settle down first if you can. But if you are in a lot of pain you can go back next week.

It’s such a shame you’ve had to drop out of college over these kind of things. Is there any way back?

[UserName20]

Thank you guys. I went back to my dentist on Monday. He looked at both fillings and told me that my bite was off on one or both. He took an X-ray and told me he did not see any infection and that everything looked normal, however he told me it was too soon for him to be able to see an infection starting. He told me to keep an eye on it and within the next 3 days if it’s still aching he will have to prescribe me antibiotics and send me for a root canal. I’m confused... if he can’t see an infection why would he put me on antibiotics.. isn’t that a good way to make your body immune to them?? Plus ( I have no money for either and they expect a down payment right then and there )
So I have been incredibly stressed. Now I’m going to admit, today I have barely noticed my tooth hurting as I’ve been distracted. And now I’m at this point where I can’t tell it my head is almost making me feel like I have a toothache when I don’t.. it’s really weird. So I’m thinking, if I had an Infection would it hurt constantly throughout the day and be swelling?

I went a lot of the day without thinking about it today. It still hurts to chew on but even just closing my mouth and clenching my teeth has felt much better since be fixed my bite.. I literally can’t tell if it hurts or not! I really truly do not have the money for a root canal but I’m too worried to not get one in case the infection spreads to my body and kills me? And both cavities were deep... if my X-ray looks normal how would he even know which one to root canal?? I’m so confused and stressed I can’t handle this all

I told this dentist Monday I struggle with health anxiety and told him how I keep running to keep taking my temp several time every 10 minutes or so. His response? “That’s good to keep watch in this situation.” Right there I had to kind of scratch my head. Definitely not normal to be checking so obsessively especially when I don’t even feel like I have a fever

[UserName20]

I called my dentist this morning. The lady who answered told me as long as I’m feeling better and not in excruciating pain I should be fine just waiting until my next appointment on October 9th for more fillings to have the dentist recheck it. I’m just worried there’s some infection that’s going to spread through my body :( It does still kinda hurt to chew on but it’s better than before. It’s been 8 days since j had the two really deep fillings done. I’m just worried... that appointment is like 2 weeks away and surely if I have an infection it will be spreading by then. But I also don’t have $1500 laying around for a root canal

[UserName20]

One or both of the teeth on my left side with the deep fillings from a week and three days ago still hurts to chew on :( I’m so terrified. It didn’t really bother me all day today and now the more I realize it’s The Weeknd and my dentist is closed the rest of the weekend the more afraid I get and the more I wonder if it hurts or it the weird sensation is from my mind hyperfocusing. I’m so scared I’m getting an infection that will spread and kill me :( I don’t have the money to get a root canal the stress and anxiety is eating me alive

Monday when he x-rayed the area everything looked perfect besides my bite being too high. It feels better when I close my mouth or clench my teeth now, only problem is when I chew on it really with somethjnf a bit tough. Just terrified of an infection spreading and killing me.

[Scass]

Really you need to deal with the worry and not the tooth. I think the tooth is probably fine. Mine still occasionally hurts in the morning and I had a filling before you - I think it’s because I grind my teeth.
You could buy some medicated mouthwash maybe?

[UserName20]

Thank you. I really don’t feel like my antidepressant is doing much as I’ve been on it for going two months and do t feel different.

I am just struggling with money and so afraid I’m going to get an infection and it will kill me or I’ll lose all of my teeth.

[UserName20]

So it’s been almost a month since I had those 2 deep fillings in the back done. Since then the dentist has looked at them twice and tried his best to fix the bite on one or both. The ache has gone away.. my only problem now is chewing. It really hurts to chew. So they have determined that it most likely needs a root canal.. I can’t tell which one hurts when I chew though... hoping the dentist can figure that part out. The dentist told me I can give it a couple of weeks before calling for a root canal but I am just done with it. I know at least one ( hopefully not both ) needs a root canal and I was frantically calling different offices on Friday seeing who could get me in the soonest.

I now have this obsession with brushing my teeth constantly. My toothbrush is fairly new and already looks like I’ve been using it for a year with how worn it is. Now my gums are beginning to feel irritated on the left side of my mouth and are bleeding a bit. So of course now I’m afraid I have gum disease. ( the logical part of my brain is telling me it’s from brushing too often and roughly) and I am trying to remind myself that the dentist has seen my mouth three or four times in the past month or so and I feel like he would have picked up gum disease in my regular exam where he found the cavities. In fact I’ve had two dentists look in my mouth as the office has different dentists day to day. And so the worrying begins.. I start a new job next Monday, a full time job to get myself out of all of this medical mess. I think stress is teaming up with the anxiety I have to give me more trouble.

[itiswhatitis]

I had to have a lot of dental work done over many months last year including removals (because I was too scared to be put to sleep and have it all done in one go) had a few fillings too, never got an infection from any of my visits :)

And as someone else mentioned, dental infections aren't the WORST things, before I started getting my work done and my teeth were in a poor situation, I had an infection. It sucked but it was easily fixed in about 1 week with antibiotics, I didn't feel great at that time but I could still function well enough. And I've had no infections since the dentist did their work.

[itiswhatitis]

+ I must have had at least 6 teeth removed, and having them removed (especially over a period of time) is a higher risk of getting an infection, but I never did :)