Inlay pain

Hi,

About six months ago I had a deep cavity filling replaced with a gold inlay in my bottom molar. When they placed the inlay, the doctor said that there was a pinpoint of blood and that they may have breached the pulp. When they put the inlay in, it hurt tremendously. The doctor said he'd send me down for a root canal if I needed it, but I refused as the pain abated within a few minutes. I still felt some sensations of pain for about 4-5 days, but it eventually disappeared.

Last week I woke up with some low-grade intermittent pain in that same tooth, similar to the pain I felt six months ago. I'm not sure what could have brought it on, but it's been almost a week now and I'm still experiencing some sensation from that tooth. I've had no other symptoms other than the occasional pain. No cold/hot or pressure sensitivity. My temperature has been normal all week and there has been no swelling.

I went to the dentist Monday and they x-rayed the tooth. They said it looked normal and perfectly healthy, no cavities or infection. They gave me some Sensodyne toothpaste and said to brush with it. I've been doing that for a few days and I'm still getting some intermittent pain from the tooth. Yesterday I thought it had gone away completely, as I didn't feel anything all day. But then I woke up again at 4AM with some minor pain.

When I say pain, it's a very low grade pain. Probably a 1 or 2 on a 10 point scale. Most of the time it presents itself more in a way that I'm aware of the tooth rather than anything debilitating. I've been able to sleep through the night most nights in the past week, usually after taking Alleve. But for the past 2 nights I haven't taken anything to see if the problem is going away.

I'm really hoping that I don't need endodontic therapy, but I'm not sure what else might help alleviate this problem. The only other symptom I can think of is nausea, but that might be due to my anxiety about root canals.

What should I do?

Thanks in advance!

[scottma]

Seeing an endodontist to have a thorough evaluation is advised.

[Zagreb]

Thanks! I went in for a consultation and ended up needing a root canal for that tooth.