Sajid K. Syed

Yes it is safe unless the patient has some underlying heart conditions that require a different anesthetic, usually one with epinephrine.

Avoid smoking and sucking through a straw after an extraction. Brushing and flossing in the area should also be avoided along with mouthwash!

You don’t have to take opioids if you don’t want to. We prescribe opioids in certain cases depending on the extraction and if we think the patient is going to be in more pain than normal afterwards. You still have a choice of course and you need to mention it to the dentist who is treating you.

Diabetes will affect healing in general, so if you have gum disease and diabetes, chances of your gum disease getting worse faster than others is higher as the body is unable to heal in time. But if you get regular cleanings and stay strict with home care which includes brushing and flossing, your odds are much better.

Let's clarify, fillings are done to remove cavities in teeth. They are redone if a new cavity develops under a filling that was done before which is possible if a patient is not taking good care of their teeth. If you are having pain, then it can be from a new cavity that has developed under the filling which should not be the case if it was only done a year ago OR the filling that was done was deep and close to the nerve of the tooth and the nerve now might be dying. Either way, you need to go to your dentist and get it checked. Hope this helps.

Yes your silver fillings can be replaced with white fillings. I would advise however that you do this only if you absolutely need to, for example, if there is a cavity under a silver filling then by all means, change it to a white one. Only reason is because everytime you work on a tooth, the tooth gets traumatized, you don't want to traumatize a tooth if you absolutely don't need to.

If you get regular cleanings done by a hygenist and you floss regularly, once or twice a day and still have bad breath, mouthwash once a day is plenty. If you are doing all the above and still have bad breath, make sure you brush your tongue as well when you brush your teeth, as a lot of bacteria reside on your tongue as well.

Hi there,
from the information that you have provided, yes a tooth with a deep filling can get infected from the nerve in the tooth dying caused by trauma from the filling that was done on it. Keep in mind, a tooth gets traumatized every time it has work done on it, the trauma is greater obviously when its a deep filling. The symptoms you were feeling very well could have been the nerve in the process of dying. I do not know if the pain you felt in week no. 10 was from the tooth or maybe muscle. If it was tooth and if it cracked you would still have again when you are eating or chewing, if not then crack is unlikely. If its muscle, you might still feel tenderness on that side of your face along your cheek. Monitor it for now and if anything changes, go see your dentist to get things re-evaluated. I wouldn't get the tooth extracted just yet.

As long as your oral hygiene is excellent, and by that I mean brushing twice a day and flossing you shouldn't have any bad breath, but of you still do then I believe it is normal. If you want to take it one step further, you can use a tongue scraper to clean your tongue because a lot of the bacteria that cause bad breath are on your tongue as well. Hope this helps.