Hi Tina. I come from a dental family and having that amount of work done will leave a good ache for a while while healing, like any wound really. Luckily your mouth heals faster than any other part of the body so shouldnt last to long. Ambesol is the best thing you can get, every bit of your mouth it touches will be totally numb. To get the best from it dry the area with cotton wool first then put the ambesol on with your finger tip. Sadly the amount you paid or your dentist has no bearing on it atall. you had major work done and its going to hurt like a bitch