Emergency dental symptoms
Pain after a filling: what is normal, what is not, and when to ring
A new filling can twinge for a couple of weeks while the nerve settles. Pain that is getting worse, hurts when you bite, or lingers after hot and cold is telling you something else.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Ibraheem Ijaz, Principal Dentist · GDC 301711 · Last reviewed April 2026
Why a new filling can hurt
A filling is a small injury to a living tooth. The drill warms the dentine, decay is scraped away close to the nerve, and the nerve responds the way any tissue does to an insult, by becoming inflamed for a while. The deeper the filling, the closer it sits to the nerve and the longer that takes to settle. There is a reason for this you can picture: the tubes running through dentine are narrow and sparse near the enamel, but close to the nerve they are wider and packed far more densely, so a deep filling sits on a surface that is many times more sensitive than a shallow one.
That settling accounts for most pain after a filling. The rest comes from one of these:
A filling that sits too high.
A tiny gap under a white filling.
A nerve that was already too inflamed.
A crack in the tooth.
How long after a filling pain is normal
Days one and two.
Weeks one and two.
Weeks three to six.
Not normal at any point.
The direction of travel matters more than the intensity. A filling that hurt on day two and less on day five is settling. One that was fine on day two and hurts on day ten is not.
Signs the filling needs adjusting or redoing
Wait and watch.
Call today, seen within a day or two.
Same day.
A&E.
What to do at home
- 01Ibuprofen as directed on the packet, if you can take it, because it calms the inflammation in the nerve as well as the pain. Paracetamol alongside it if needed.
- 02Chew on the other side for a few days, and avoid very hot, very cold and very sweet.
- 03Rub sensitive toothpaste onto the tooth at night and leave it.
- 04Do not clench on the filling to test it. If it feels high, note it and ring rather than trying to wear it down.
- 05Keep a simple note of whether each day is better or worse than the last. It is the most useful thing you can bring to the appointment.
What we do when a filling keeps hurting
The examination takes about 15 minutes. We start with the bite, because it is the most common answer: you close on a strip of thin coloured paper, and a filling that is high leaves one heavy mark where the teeth meet too early. Then a cold test on the filled tooth and its neighbours, with the seconds counted, to tell a settling nerve from an inflamed one. We tap the tooth for ligament tenderness, use a bite test on each cusp if a crack or a gap is suspected, and take a digital X-ray to check the depth of the filling, look for a gap or overhang at its edges, and rule out decay left behind or infection at the root tip.
- High filling. Reshaped with a polishing bur until the bite is even. Relief within a day or two. See bite adjustment.
- Gap under the filling. The filling is removed and replaced with fresh bonding and, where the cavity is deep, a protective lining first.
- Deep filling on a nerve that can still recover. The filling is swapped for a soothing temporary dressing for a few weeks to let the nerve calm down, then the permanent filling goes back in.
- Nerve past recovery. Root canal treatment through the filling, stage 1 that day to stop the pain and completion at a second visit. Extraction is the alternative.
- Crack. A crown to hold the tooth together.
Fees are agreed in writing before treatment. Evening and weekend visits carry an additional out-of-hours charge. Our pain after a filling treatment page and the root canal page have more on what each option involves.
| Treatment | Fee (from) |
|---|---|
| Emergency examination including X-rays | £30 |
| Bite adjustment | priced at the visit |
| Replacement white filling | £150–£220 |
| Emergency root canal stage 1 | £200 |
| Completed root canal treatment | £450 |
| All-ceramic crown | £750–£1,000 |
What happens if it is left
A high filling that is never adjusted keeps bruising the ligament, and the tooth or the filling can crack under the uneven load. A gap under a filling lets bacteria in beneath it, so decay starts again on the floor of the cavity, out of sight. A nerve that was inflamed beyond recovery goes on to die quietly, and the abscess appears months later, by which time a root canal that could have been done through the filling has become a bigger job or an extraction.
It is worth saying plainly: sometimes a tooth needs a root canal after a filling not because the filling was wrong but because the decay was already too close to the nerve. A filling is tried first because most nerves do recover, and a root canal is kept in reserve for the ones that do not.
Questions, answered
Common questions
How long should sensitivity last after a filling?
A few days for a small filling, two to four weeks for a deep one, and it should be getting better week by week. Sensitivity that is unchanged after six weeks, or worse at any point, needs checking.
Is it normal for a new filling to hurt when I bite?
Not beyond the first day or two. Pain on biting usually means the filling is slightly high and needs a two-minute adjustment. Left alone it does not wear in; it bruises the ligament and can crack the tooth.
Does pain after a filling mean I need a root canal?
Usually not. Most pain after a filling is a settling nerve or a high bite. Root canal is needed when pain lingers after hot and cold, starts on its own or wakes you, because those signs mean the nerve is inflamed beyond recovery.
Why does my new filling hurt with hot drinks?
Cold sensitivity after a filling is normal; hot sensitivity is not. Pain from heat, especially if it lingers, means the nerve is badly inflamed and is the clearest sign that the tooth needs seeing rather than waiting.
How is a high filling fixed?
You bite on a strip of marking paper to show where the filling hits early, and the high spot is polished down until the bite feels even. It takes a few minutes and no injection. The ache usually goes within a couple of days.
In pain? Don’t wait
Same-day emergency appointments, seven days a week.
£30 emergency examination including X-rays. Call now and a real person answers, or grab a slot online.
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