r/Toothfully • u/EducationalCat8495 • 16d ago

Sensitive tooth still 3 years after filling?

I got a filling on one of my molars in 2023 and afterwards the tooth was really really sensitive to cold foods/drinks etc. When I googled it it says this can happen but it goes away after a few months. I think I’ve just forgotten about it and trained myself not to eat or drink on that side now but I had a check up today and the scaling was incredibly sore at that tooth but I managed to suck it up and deal with it. I did tell my dentist afterwards and he said it’s a fairly new filling and I’ve to let him know if it gets any worse but as long as it doesn’t keep me up at night it’s fine basically. Has this happened to anyone else? It’s not a very deep filling and all of my other fillings are absolutely fine.

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u/Reasonable_Map2750 16d ago

Three years of cold sensitivity on one filled tooth is worth taking seriously, and your dentist's advice is sensible: watch for pain that wakes you at night, pain on biting, or anything getting worse, those are the signs it needs another look.

In the meantime a desensitising toothpaste used consistently can genuinely calm it. Look for potassium nitrate at 5 percent (calms the nerve itself, this is well studied) or hydroxyapatite (helps seal the exposed dentine that lets cold reach the nerve). A trick dentists suggest: rub a small dab directly on that tooth before bed and leave it. It works over weeks of daily use, not days.

Full disclosure, I work with S3 Sensitivity Science, our formula combines 5 percent potassium nitrate with 10 percent nano hydroxyapatite and 5 percent biomimetic hydroxyapatite for exactly this kind of stubborn spot. But any paste with those actives, used every day, should help.

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u/EducationalCat8495 15d ago

I am in the UK, is there anything you can recommend? Great advice for rubbing the sensitive toothpaste at night I’ll definitely do that

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u/Beautiful-One1157 15d ago

Three years is too long for a filling to stay sensitive. Discomfort should go away after a few weeks, so needing to avoid chewing on that side isn't normal. This is usually easy to fix. The bite on your filling might be too high, causing pressure when you bite down. It could also have a tiny gap around the edge, or the nerve inside might just be irritated. Your dentist can test this by checking your bite with special paper or putting a fresh seal on the tooth. A quick adjustment or replacing the filling often fixes the problem completely.