Friendswood Happy Smiles
2026-04-05T13:29:58.131Z
I visited Dr. Austin Cheng for a teeth cleaning routine exam on November 19, 2024. During the appointment, I mentioned that my previous dentist had identified a small cavity in tooth #18. Dr. Cheng rechecked and confirmed it was very minor and offered the option to either wait or treat it immediately. I chose to have it treated to get over with.After the filling, I noticed significant discomfort and an uneven bite. Dr. Cheng tried to adjust the filling but was unable to rectify the situation. Then said he couldn't remove more material because the surface had become too thin. He suggested waiting a few days to see if it gets better. Unfortunately, the pain worsened such that I couldn't even brush it. The strange thing was that not only was the filled tooth painful, but also the tooth directly above it started to hurt as well.When I went back, Dr. Cheng did not believe the upper tooth pain was related to his work. I told him that I had a similar experience with a previous dentist who did a crown on my upper tooth, and it was not even, strangely, the tooth below the new crown, hurt very much. The dentist explained that the bottom tooth hurt because the upper tooth was uneven where a high spot was hitting the tooth first resulting in more pressure that caused the pain which is a common problem known as referred pain. The dentist installed a new crown, and my bottom tooth pain was gone. Plus, I found a website saying that an uneven dental filling not only can cause referred pain, but also elsewhere in the mouth. Dr. Cheng insisted that this did not apply in my case. He attempted to relieve the problem by making adjustments which was patching the bottom one and removing some off the upper one to make it fit. I was doubtful and disinclined to this method; I wanted him to redo the filling, but he assured me that patching would resolve my issue. I experienced considerable pain when he worked on the upper tooth. Subsequently, I noted a slight improvement in the discomfort of my lower tooth, as I could at least brush it without unbearable pain. However, I still could not tolerate hot or cold stimuli, and especially could not endure pressure while eating, and my upper tooth did not get any better.On follow-up visits, he said my teeth look fine without taking X-rays or performing hot/cold tests to prove it. Instead, he gave me a sensitivity toothpaste for the first visit and prescribed a mouth rinse during the second one, neither of which helped. Eventually, he told me he was unsure what the next step should be to fix my problem.Because the discomfort persisted, I sought a second opinion. The new dentist suggested a night guard, and if it didn't help, go to an endodontist. The endodontist, who the new dentist referred me to, performed tests and found both the upper and lower teeth reacted abnormally. He recommended a root canal starting on the upper tooth, possibly followed by one on the lower. I was surprised by this outcome and wondered why. He said it might be a crack on the upper tooth which was not showing on the new x-ray. Later, I contacted Dr. Cheng to discuss these findings. He indicated that since the nerve problem is new and he is not an endodontist, further treatment would be outside his scope. Therefor whatever I need to do next has nothing to do with him. I was unable to reach him again for further discussion.The crux of the matter is that the pain is not a recent occurrence. As I previously noted, my decay was minimal with no pain, upper tooth was perfectly fine prior to treatment. After Dr. Cheng did the filling; I experienced heightened sensitivity to thermal stimuli along with persistent pain and discomfort affecting both my upper and lower teeth. In fact, I could not use the filled side to eat ever since.I do not feel that my concerns were adequately addressed and strongly feel that Dr. Cheng should identify the underlying issue and come up with a plan to fix my problem. Instead, what I got from him is a frustrating and painful experience and unsolved issue. What a nightmare!
I visited Dr. Austin Cheng for a teeth cleaning routine exam on November 19, 2024. During the appointment, I mentioned that my previous dentist had id... More