It’s one of the most unpleasant experiences for any one in Atlanta, but a visit to the dentist can actually seriously impact your life in ways you may not have anticipated. Lingual nerve injury and inferior alveolar nerve injury can leave a dental patient with permanent numbness, loss of sensation, or even pain. There’s very little known about these injuries, and it’s only patients who suffer a severed lingual nerve or an inferior alveolar nerve injury who understand the impact of these injuries.
These nerve injuries can result from a number of factors. Severance can occur in either the lingual nerve or the inferior alveolar nerve.
When the alveolar nerve is injured, the patient may suffer from numbness and lack of feeling in the lips, as well as the inner part of the mouth. Inferior alveolar nerve injuries are more common than lingual nerve injuries. Inferior alveolar nerve injuries are caused by many dental procedures. Some of these injuries are sustained when the patient is receiving a local dental anesthetic injection. Others are caused by the extraction of the tooth itself. Still others are caused by a dental instrument coming into contact with the nerve.
Lingual nerve injuries, on the other hand, typically result in numbness of the tongue, tingling sensation, severe pain or burning sensation in the inside of the mouth. Sometimes, there may be a single symptom like numbness or pain, and sometimes, there may be a combination of numbness and pain. The risk of a lingual nerve injury is higher when it’s a wisdom tooth that’s being extracted. Lingual nerve injury can also occur when a dentist injects a dental anesthetic just before placing fillings and crowns. A patient may also have a higher risk of a Lingual nerve injury during a root canal, tooth extractions and dental implantation.
Approximately 85% of lingual nerve injuries are believed to heal on their own. However, as an Atlanta dental malpractice lawyer who frequently meets with patients suffering from these injuries, I know that dentists often assure patients that the injury will heal on its own. It’s important to understand that there’s not much that is known about these injuries and their treatment. Therapies for both lingual nerve injuries and alveolar nerve injuries are extremely limited at this point in time.
Robert J. Fleming has been handling wrongful death cases, dental malpractice, bus accidents, car accident cases and premises injury cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 20 years. He practices in and around the Atlanta area including handling lawsuits in Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Gwinnett, Cobb and other counties and nearby cities including Alpharetta, Austell, Avondale Estates, Chamblee, College Park, Conyers, Duluth, Decatur, Doraville, Hapeville, Johns Creek, Jonesboro, Lawrenceville, Norcross, Peachtree City, Riverdale, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain, and Smyrna. If you have been seriously injured due to a dental procedure and would like quality legal representation, contact Robert J. Fleming directly on (404) 525-5150 or contact us online.