Is there a dentist in the house?

Airplay355

Today I went to get a wisdom tooth taken out and in order to numb me sufficiently he pushed a needle far into the corner of my mouth. I felt a sharp pain through the side of my face all the way towards the end of my chin when he did this. When he withdrew the needle I felt the same pain. It was like being electrocuted. He told me what he gave me would last for 6-8 hours, but it's been 6 hours and I'm still completely numb.
I'm worried he may have damaged my lingual nerve as the numbness is mostly distal to the injection site and still very strong. I have some numbness in my ear but I cannot feel the entire right side of my tongue and mouth.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? I'd really like to be able to feel the other side of my mouth soon so I can eat.
Does anyone know how I'd know if I have nerve damage other then waiting? Is the sharp pain indicative of nerve damage?

mhardy6647

edited

Airplay355

edited? That doesn't help me much lol.

nooshinjohn

only thing I can say is that when I had my wisdoms yanked... they are breaking bone sometimes to do this... it took a couple days before my numbness went away completely.
I wish you well and a speedy recovery, but if you still have numbness in the morning call a doctor to be safe.

bobman1235

I'm not a doctor by any means, but when those novicaine needles hit a nerve it can cause some really weird (and lingering) sensations. I had something similar happening once and it took a disturbingly long time for things to feel normal.

mhardy6647

I deleted it because it probably wasn't very helpful, and I'm not a dentist (although I do own a bunch of dental probes).

Airplay355

It sucks a lot. I've been reading articles in the journal of american dentistry and how I feel shows up exactly in a few of them. The conclusion is usually that there is no prevention and no treatment for my problem. I wish I had know this before, I just would have asked for a general anesthetic.

cfrizz

The feeling will come back eventually, just eat on the other side of your mouth.

The mouth really does heal quickly, but when they sever nerves & what not it takes time for them to reattach themselves. But they will do so.

You would probably still have the same problem even with GA. But I would recommend taking some advil, ibuprophen, naproxen, etc before the novacaine wears off. Because once it does you are going to hurt like you wouldn't believe.

Cathy, the survivor of 4 root canals, 3 apioectomys, multiple bone grafts, & finally teeth implants all on the same 2 teeth! Time frame over 30 years, cost...more than you could possibly believe!

Oh yeah & having all four impacted wisdom teeth pulled at 21 under GA since they never came out & I didn't want to wait for them to get infected one by one to have them pulled.

dorokusai

This is not abnormal and I am not a doctor....unless you mean, a Dr. of Barry White, midnight, earth shaking 35 second love? If not, chill out, you'll be fine. Your body will react differently to certain things. Just because you got work done in the past, doesn't mean the same cookie cutter effect.

Food is overrated.

www.webmd.com

treitz3

Paranoia.............Will destroy ya'.............. *music playing in the background*

Airplay355

You're right, I was paranoid.

He did hit the nerve (he even told me that) but I guess I'm ok because the majority of the feeling is back. Being numb for 8 hours was pretty strange and was making me paranoid because it wasn't gradually wearing off. It went away all at once.

mark090852

I'm a dentist. The sharp pain you felt during the injection was likely the needle contacting the inferior alveolar nerve. If you are having normal sensation in that area today it's unlikely that you will have any prolonged side effects.

Good luck and I wish you a speedy recovery from your surgery.

Airplay355

Thanks Mark. I read an study in the JAD about alveolar nerve blocks causing damage to the lingual nerve which is what made me a little paranoid. In the article the "electric shock sensation" was felt by some of the patients who experience prolonged issues.

Why does contacting the nerve not always cause nerve damage? I imagine the needle went through the nerve because I felt the same sensation when he withdrew the needle as I did when he inserted it.

Hobbyguy

The nerve may not have been punctured by the needle. Many times just proximity is enough to cause paresthesias (numbness) or dysesthesia (pain). The anesthetic is acidic and hurts when it contacts the nerve. I buffer the anesthetic with a small amount of sodium bicarb and this makes a big difference. If the nerve was punctured then there is a very small chance of permanent loss of nerve function. The needle can separate some of the fibers and pass through or it can transect some of the fibers. Most peripheral nerves can self heal a small puncture.

Airplay355

Does the sodium bi-carb change the efficacy of the anesthetic slightly?

Before doing the complete nerve block he used a regular technique to try to numb me and it did not work at all. He told me I had an infection which caused the tissue to be slightly more acidic then normal which made the anesthetic less effective.

Do some anesthetics just need a specific pH range to work?