just been to the dentist. 3 weeks ago he replaced a filling that had cracked, and it never settled well. for four days i had intense pain on chewing, and if i pressed on that tooth. today he removed and replaced the filling, and said the pain is prob due to an infection, as i also have gum recession on this tooth. he has given me 5 days antibiotics, and said if it doesnt settle i will have to have either an implant or a bridge - any advice or alternatives?

If I were you, I would get a second opinion. Im not a specialist, and I dont have an answer for you, but if it were me, I would definatly want to see what my options are. Some dentists are set in their ways and wont consider other options, while others are more willing to try other things. Just my thoughts.

Good luck.

-Wisdom

I would wait it out for a long as possible.... I know when I have fillings replaced it can take a good few weeks for my tooth to settle down. Was it a deep filling? You may just need to give that tooth some time to settle down. Good Luck!

Emma,

I'd wait a bit and see if it settles, too. If there's a massive infection, it might take more than 5 days to go away anyhow. Try tracking exactly when it hurts (unless it's just constant), or when it gets worse. Write it down and look at it every few days, maybe you'll see that there are one or two things that particularly irritate it (other than pressing on it). Plus, I'd take that list and go to another dentist for a second, third, or even fourth opinion. As has been said, some are quite set in their ways and don't keep up with new alternatives. If you start seeing a consensus of opinions, at least you'll know that it's probably the correct choice.

Sim

Hmm, if you had an infection, no wonder your filling didn't 'settle.' It would seal the infection off in a cramped, contained environment, and gases produced by the bacteria involved might cause quite a bit of pain IMO. I placed that temporary cavity filling pasty stuff on my aching tooth and it actually worsened the pain, probably for that reason.

I'd see what the antibiotics do for the infection, they might help, or may not depending on whether they can get to the infection and fight it. If the pulp is infected, you probably would need a root canal on that tooth, I would imagine. But, I don't think that tooth extraction should be the first treatment offered, except perhaps in rare circumstances.

I agree w/ others here and would get a second opinion too. I would think an infection would merit a root canal first rather than an extraction in most cases.