My Experience

I was having pain in a tooth in the lower left side of my mouth. The tooth had a filling three years ago but for the past six months it has hurt when I have chewed on that side. The dentist took X-rays but didn’t see a problem, so she recommended removing part of the filling so she could look inside and refilling, hoping that would solve the sensitivity issue.

She numbed my mouth with gel, gave me Novocain, I waited for eight minutes or so for my mouth to be numb, and then she began drilling. Before drilling she gave me glasses so spray from the drill or any old fillings couldn’t hit my eyes. The drilling was painless except for occasional sensitivity for a second or two. Eventually, even that went away. She said she didn’t see anything unusual in the tooth, and she put a new composite filling in. The left side of my mouth, gums, and tongue were numb for a few hours after the procedure, making drinking difficult though I could talk normally.