possible nerve injury after wisdom tooth etraction

[mdlee3]

9 days ago, I got my lower right wisdom tooth surgically extracted. I am still quite numb in the lower right lip and chin are and gums inside that area.  From day 1 I started getting lots of crawlike feeling and itchiness which then progressed to tingles and severe burning sensations on my lip, and chin . For 3 days now I am getting all the sensations at the same time and am in AGONY with my right front bottom teeth(in the numb area) . They throb and burn and feel so cold that the burn no amount of Motrin 800 is relieving the pain. Some of the heaviness associated with the numbness has decrease sligtly in the lips although still numb to the touch.  I can deall with that but the hurting teeth are driving me crazy ....the are eEXCRUIATING PAIN!!!! what can I do???? and do you think I am in the final stage of healing???? I don't think I can take much more of this.

[saynono]

There was an injury to the Inferior Alveolar Nerve.  You are "lucky" that you just ended up with numbness.  Many have permanent burning and requires the concotion of drugs to deal with.  Anyone with this problem should go to an oral surgeon and neurologist for help.  After my experience with a general dentist botching a root canal using formaldehyde (always ask...and say NO, no matter how they defend it), I learned to limit what I allow a general dentist to do.  Root canals = endodontist.  Tooth extractions = oral surgeon.  

[mdlee3]

The status of my numbness:   It's been 2 years now and I am still about 75% numb .  I have somehow gotten accustomed to the feeling although at times like if I eat something spicy it feels more numb and I get tingly sensations.  This is it for me  I do not expect any more feeling to return as it has been this way for about a year and a half now with no more improvement.

[FloraB]

I was wondering what the status of your numbness.  Did it clear up or are you still experiencing the same thing?

[mdlee3]

You need to go on a short course of steroids.  This is the ONLY medication that will ease the pain and eventually take it away completely, believe you me. It may take a couple days for it to kick in.  As for the numbness, depending on how badly damaged the nerve is you may never get back complete feeling.  That's what happened to me ...to this day I am still 75% numb in my lip and chin area . But I have gotten so used to it that I rarely notice it.  It's amazing what you can get used to.  I'm glad I'm not totally numb and I'm really glad I have no pain...that's the important thing.  So, go get some steroids from your dentist .  Hope all goes well!  I sympathize with what you're going through.

[tungy]

This is exactly what I'm experiencing right now.  Please let me know what I should do. My oral surgeon said that because of my age,35, the healing process could be lenghthy. However,the teeth numbness, pain and discomfort is excrutiating. What did you end up doing about this.My surgeon doesnt seem to have an answer. Please help. It's been about 8 days.

[FECHO]

I would like to know how did your problems resolve, mdlee?.  Did things return to normal eventually?  And if so, how long did it take?  I had my lower left wisdom tooth extracted two weeks ago and I developed paresthesia at first, combined with numb chin syndrome.  The tingling now is gone, only the numbness remained with quite a bit of sensitivity and pain.  I decided to record my progress on my blog, http://musingspace.blogspot.com/, and I am going to keep recording all the twists and turns of the healing process, so even if people will read these lines of mine much later, you can come and check out my April '08 archives to see what happened, how long did it take for the numbness to go away... if at all.

[pacecar]

You need to contact the dentist who removed your wisdom teeth or your general dentist and let them examine you.  It is possible for the numbness to last a while but you have surpassed that point.  They way want to give some antibiotic you may have some swelling around the lingual nerve causing the pain and numbness.  Best of luck.