If you’ve experienced nerve damage as a result of dental negligence, you’ll likely find yourself wondering, ‘Is nerve damage permanent?’ It’s a tricky question to answer, as nerve damage after dental work can be both temporary and permanent, depending on the extent of your dental injury and the nerve that has been affected.
That’s why we’ve created this blog, aiming to help you understand dental nerve damage a little more, giving you the knowledge needed to decide on the next steps to take.
If you’d like to speak to a member of our team instead to discuss a potential dental negligence claim, we’ll be happy to help – please request a callback here or complete our online claim form to find out more.
Is Nerve Damage Permanent?
In many cases, dental nerve damage is temporary and the affected nerves can regenerate over time, so it’s important to try not to worry too much if you’ve been diagnosed with tooth nerve damage symptoms. However, the healing process depends on several factors, including:
- The extent of the damage
- Your overall health
- The nerve that has been affected
Minor nerve injuries often heal within a few weeks to months, but more severe cases could take longer to restore completely. Unfortunately, in some circumstances, nerve damage can be permanent – particularly if the nerve has been severely damaged, crushed or severed during a negligent dental procedure.
Permanent nerve damage is often associated with wisdom teeth removal, but in rare situations, it can also occur during several other surgeries, such as:
As nerve damage is usually hidden from sight, it can be difficult to give an accurate picture of whether you have permanent or temporary nerve damage. If the damage is extremely severe, you may experience nerve injury symptoms on a long-term basis, which could have a large impact on your daily life.
If your symptoms persist, your dentist or specialist maxillo-facial doctor may arrange a detailed scan of the affected nerve to establish the nature and extent of the injury. They will also want to determine the likelihood of your injury being temporary or permanent, and also whether surgical repair of the damage would be helpful for you.
If you’ve experienced nerve damage as a result of dental work, it’s advisable that you seek help from a medical professional as soon as possible, so as to mitigate the damage done.
What Are the Main Causes of Dental Nerve Damage?
So, what are the main causes of dental nerve damage?
Dental nerve injuries are usually the result of trauma during dental treatment, often caused by dental negligence. You may find that your dentist has performed work that should have been conducted by a more experienced dental specialist. If your dentist decides to do a procedure for you and they don’t have the relevant experience, there’s a chance you may suffer from dental nerve trauma.
One of the most common nerves to be damaged during dental surgery is the inferior alveolar nerve, which runs down the inside of the lower jawbone and then through the lower jaw supplying sensation to the tongue, lips, cheek and teeth.
This nerve can become damaged during dental implant procedures if the implants are incorrectly positioned or drilled too deep. .
Your wisdom teeth have roots positioned near the lingual and inferior alveolar nerve canal in the jaw bone, and concern about potential damage to these nerves is one of the reasons why many dentists try to avoid conducting wisdom tooth extractions.
Local anaesthetic injections can also cause injuries to these nerves, although this is rare. Dental injection site injuries can cause persistent and permanent nerve damage, although temporary trauma is more common, usually improving within a few weeks.
As you can see, there are many different causes of dental nerve damage, with most of these injuries being temporary. However, if you have experienced permanent nerve trauma at the hands of a negligent dentist, we may be able to help you through the dental negligence claims process.
Please contact our team to find out more.
What Are the Main Symptoms of Nerve Damage?
If you suspect you may have dental nerve damage, it’s important to learn what the symptoms are, enabling you to seek help from a dental professional as soon as possible. All dental injuries are different, and you may find that you have different symptoms depending on the nerve that has been impacted.
The main symptoms of nerve damage after dental work are:
- A burning sensation in your mouth
- Numbness and tingling
- Nerve pain
- Difficulties with chewing, biting and speaking
- Inflammation and swelling
- Loss of taste
Your symptoms can be fairly different depending on which nerve has been damaged though.
Injuries to the left or right side of your inferior alveolar nerve, also known as the inferior dental nerve, for example, from failed root canals or negligent tooth extraction surgeries, may lead to numbness or tingling in the chin jaw and lower lip on the affected side. You may also feel pain in these areas and find it hard to chew or bite down on food.
Another nerve that may be affected during a dental treatment is the lingual nerve, which is a branch of the inferior alveolar nerve which runs along the inside of the jaw bone. It’s known as the lingual nerve as it serves the region of your mouth that faces the tongue, providing sensation to areas such as the gums on the side next to the tongue, the floor of your mouth and the tongue itself.
Again – if the lingual nerve is damaged, you’ll usually notice numbness, pain or pins-and-needles in the affected areas, but you may also have changes in taste and sense from the tongue due to damage to a nerve associated with the lingual nerve. Similarly, if the lingual nerve has become damaged, you may have problems with your salivary glands leading to dry mouth and trouble swallowing.
The signs of permanent and temporary nerve damage tend to be largely the same, so it’s difficult to state how long your nerve injury will last from the symptoms alone. Instead, you should speak to your dentist or doctor to get a full diagnosis of your health condition, and potentially obtain a detailed scan of the affected area.
What Are Your Treatment Options for Nerve Pain?
Sometimes, you may find that your nerves repair themselves on their own. However, in other situations, further treatment may be required to ensure full recovery.
Dental nerve pain will usually be treated by a specialist maxillo-facial doctor. There are several different treatment options available to reduce pain relating to nerve damage.
Which treatment option is right for you will depend largely on the nerve affected and the extent of the damage, so you should speak to your dentist immediately if you suspect a facial nerve injury. After treatment, you may also want to consider opening a dental negligence claim against your dentist if your nerve injury was caused as a direct result of dental malpractice.
Opening a Dental Negligence Claim for Nerve Damage
We hope that we’ve provided you with some insight into the question of ‘Is nerve damage permanent?’ enabling you to decide the best course of action for your future.
If you’d like to proceed with opening a dental negligence claim, our expert team at the Dental Law Partnership will be able to help you get started in no time. Dental nerve damage claims can be difficult to navigate at first, particularly if you’ve never been through the claim process before. However, our team has a great deal of experience in both the dental and legal fields, giving us all the tools needed to offer you expert dental negligence advice.
We work on a no-win, no-fee agreement basis, which ensures you’ll only pay your legal costs if your case is successful. Whilst we can’t state exactly how much dental nerve damage compensation you’ll get for your dental case, you can see the compensation awarded for similar cases on our Client Stories page.
There is a three-year time limit to make your claim, so it’s important to get your case started as soon as possible – please get in touch with our team here or call us on 0800 152 2034 to find out more.