As I stated in another thread (titled "Amalgam Sensitivity"), I was
having pain and a metallic taste in my mouth two weeks after getting a
second amalgam filling. My Endodontist said there was no sign of
infection and no apparent need for a root canal. He suggested that my
regular dentist drill out the old filling where the pain was
originating, examine it for decay and refill it.

So, I had the tooth refilled yesterday. He did not see any sign of
decay although he did think he saw a crack in the tooth on the side
where the filling was very close to the edge of the tooth and the
remaining tooth was very thin. He ended up drilling that part of the
tooth away, and rebuilding it with amalgam. I thought this sounded
like a promising solution.

However, today, 24 hours after the procedure, I am still in significant
pain and the metallic taste is stronger that it was yesterday. Any
ideas about what the heck is going on here? If the pain continues, I
think my next step is a root canal on that tooth, which I want to avoid
if possible. The only far out idea I can think of is a small electric
current between my two amalgam fillings (which are now of the same
metals) causing both the pain and the metallic taste, but I've been
told that is unlikely.

As I stated in another thread (titled "Amalgam Sensitivity"), I was
having pain and a metallic taste in my mouth two weeks after getting a
second amalgam filling. My Endodontist said there was no sign of
infection and no apparent need for a root canal. He suggested that my
regular dentist drill out the old filling where the pain was
originating, examine it for decay and refill it.

So, I had the tooth refilled yesterday. He did not see any sign of
decay although he did think he saw a crack in the tooth on the side
where the filling was very close to the edge of the tooth and the
remaining tooth was very thin. He ended up drilling that part of the
tooth away, and rebuilding it with amalgam. I thought this sounded
like a promising solution.

However, today, 24 hours after the procedure, I am still in significant
pain and the metallic taste is stronger that it was yesterday. Any
ideas about what the heck is going on here? If the pain continues, I
think my next step is a root canal on that tooth, which I want to avoid
if possible. The only far out idea I can think of is a small electric
current between my two amalgam fillings (which are now of the same
metals) causing both the pain and the metallic taste, but I've been
told that is unlikely.

It sounds like a "Galvanic effect". What you've described is caused
sometimes, after new Amalgam filling touching an old Amalgam filling on
the oppposite occlusal plane.

What you should do is to ask your dentist to see whether there is an
old filling on the opposite jew and he should polish the old filling.
That should do the trick. On the old filling there are micro pores with
acid content on them. When the acidic content meets the new amalgam a
small electric discharge is formed and you feel pain and metalic taste
(Galvanic Effect)

It sounds like a "Galvanic effect". What you've described is caused
sometimes, after new Amalgam filling touching an old Amalgam filling on
the oppposite occlusal plane.

What you should do is to ask your dentist to see whether there is an
old filling on the opposite jew and he should polish the old filling.
That should do the trick. On the old filling there are micro pores with
acid content on them. When the acidic content meets the new amalgam a
small electric discharge is formed and you feel pain and metalic taste
(Galvanic Effect)

allenjo5@mail.northgrum.com wrote:
As I stated in another thread (titled "Amalgam Sensitivity"), I was
having pain and a metallic taste in my mouth two weeks after getting a
second amalgam filling. My Endodontist said there was no sign of
infection and no apparent need for a root canal. He suggested that my
regular dentist drill out the old filling where the pain was
originating, examine it for decay and refill it.

So, I had the tooth refilled yesterday. He did not see any sign of
decay although he did think he saw a crack in the tooth on the side
where the filling was very close to the edge of the tooth and the
remaining tooth was very thin. He ended up drilling that part of the
tooth away, and rebuilding it with amalgam. I thought this sounded
like a promising solution.

However, today, 24 hours after the procedure, I am still in significant
pain and the metallic taste is stronger that it was yesterday. Any
ideas about what the heck is going on here? If the pain continues, I
think my next step is a root canal on that tooth, which I want to avoid
if possible. The only far out idea I can think of is a small electric
current between my two amalgam fillings (which are now of the same
metals) causing both the pain and the metallic taste, but I've been
told that is unlikely.



Considering the dentist was able to visualize a crack, I would want to
be very certain where the crack is and where it may extend to prior to
doing a lot of dentistry on this tooth.

why did you not get a tooth coloured filling second time around if you
had metal taste issue????
this tooth may turn into a root canal situation.

Steven Bornfeld wrote:

allenjo5@mail.northgrum.com wrote:

As I stated in another thread (titled "Amalgam Sensitivity"), I was
having pain and a metallic taste in my mouth two weeks after getting a
second amalgam filling. My Endodontist said there was no sign of
infection and no apparent need for a root canal. He suggested that my
regular dentist drill out the old filling where the pain was
originating, examine it for decay and refill it.

So, I had the tooth refilled yesterday. He did not see any sign of
decay although he did think he saw a crack in the tooth on the side
where the filling was very close to the edge of the tooth and the
remaining tooth was very thin. He ended up drilling that part of the
tooth away, and rebuilding it with amalgam. I thought this sounded
like a promising solution.

However, today, 24 hours after the procedure, I am still in significant
pain and the metallic taste is stronger that it was yesterday. Any
ideas about what the heck is going on here? If the pain continues, I
think my next step is a root canal on that tooth, which I want to avoid
if possible. The only far out idea I can think of is a small electric
current between my two amalgam fillings (which are now of the same
metals) causing both the pain and the metallic taste, but I've been
told that is unlikely.



Considering the dentist was able to visualize a crack, I would want to
be very certain where the crack is and where it may extend to prior to
doing a lot of dentistry on this tooth.


Presumably the dentist did this and did the best he could to eliminate
the
crack. Admittedly though, he did not spend a whole lot of time
examining
the crack, but I assumed he knew what he was doing. Yeah, perhaps
that's
a bad assumption...

Alexander Vasserman DDS wrote:
why did you not get a tooth coloured filling second time around if you
had metal taste issue????
this tooth may turn into a root canal situation.

Because the dentist convinced me that amalgam is superior to the
alternatives in terms of strength, durability and sealability, and the
fact
that I've had a single amalgam filling for the past 16 years with no
metallic
taste at all. He thought that the metallic taste was more likely to be
due
to the crack in the tooth causing "leakage" rather than to an
electrical
effect caused merely by the presence of two widely separated amalgam
fillings. Made sense to me at the time. But now I'm not so sure.

As for a root canal, if there is no infection and no decay, is it the
only
option to eliminate pain that seems to have no definite cause?