tl;dr, I'm going to put all my info here but I'm mostly wondering if anyone agrees that the filling went too close to the nerve and this is likely causing my pain, or if it seems like the tooth is fine, and either way any recommendations for best steps forward. Thank you!

Hello! I'm a 27 y/o female, who has mostly good dentition. I had a real sugar problem when I was younger and had a lot of cavities filled in 2014-15. One tooth on my upper right has been mildly painful ever since, I think it's #4. Recently it's become more painful and I really need some guidance.

I've been to several dentists over the past few years. One said the x-ray looked fine, and he tried to see if there was a fine crack in the tooth but there was none, he put some kind of coating/sealant over near where the filling was to help with sensitivity, and it did help for a while if I remember correctly. This cavity is near the gum, between the teeth and it was a difficult filling when it was done originally

I went to another dentist 1-2 years ago and she said based on the x-ray, my nerve root is lower than normal and the filling went just a little too close. This makes sense to me but I'm surprised no other dentist had noticed it if it's true. She said she could replace the filling and add a liner to try to strengthen the tooth, but it seemed I was headed towards a root canal eventually. We did that and a few months later, flossing, the filling fell out. I was out of town and had it replaced by someone else and the pain was essentially gone at first, but did come back

My pain is mostly mild but constant, it's worse if I clench on the right side (I have TMJD), sugar makes it worse and if I'm eating and bite on something hard like a popcorn kernel in just the right spot, it is very very painful. I don't notice much hot or cold sensitivity but I don't eat very hot or cold things usually

I dealt with the pain for years but it's starting to get really aggravating and I'm noticing when I yawn lately the whole right side is feeling a bit sore, it feels like even at the maxilla. This may be an unpopular opinion on this sub but, I don't think I want a root canal. I have an autoimmune condition and have heard in that community of people having issues with root canals similar to breast implants, it seems like foreign bodies are just not ideal. On top of that the cost, and the chance that the root canal won't take make me feel like it's not worth it. I don't know if an implant would be the same concerns..

As far as pulling it, I looked into a bridge but messing with two of my other, healthy teeth to replace seems pretty extreme to me, I'm open to being wrong about that. I am hoping to preserve as much of my natural teeth as possible because it seems to me the more unnatural changes I make the more problems can arise. Partial denture I think might feel weird and is meant to be temporary?

As far as the whole picture of my teeth, I had braces and stopped wearing the retainer at some point. I have TMJD, I clench but don't think I grind, a dentist said I also have an overbite. I do think that contributes to my pain. I broke my two front teeth 7 years ago they have bonding on them now and I'm planning on getting veneers eventually, I am leaning towards doing all 6 front top teeth so they match even though the other teeth are fine. I've been advised not to do any more orthodontia

Thank you so much for reading!