Signs of Nerve Injury After Dental Surgery

While dental surgery is safe and effective, any type of surgery has risks. In rare cases, dental surgery can cause a nerve injury affecting one of your facial nerves. Dr. Sonneveld has extensive experience in treating these types of injuries and helping people enjoy normal function and sensation.

What Causes a Nerve Injury During Dental Surgery?

Any type of dental surgery can cause a nerve injury, even if your surgeon has extensive skill and experience. Because of variations in anatomy, facial nerves are not always exactly where they are expected to be. 

The most commonly injured nerve is a branch of the trigeminal nerve. This nerve’s branches transmit sensation from areas like the lips, chin, and tongue. Less commonly, the injury can affect the branches that go to the upper lip and cheek area. 

Signs of Nerve Injury After Dental Surgery

If you have a nerve injury after your dental surgery, you will usually notice it almost immediately. The trigeminal nerve is a sensory nerve, which means it does not control motion, so you will still be able to move the affected areas. However, you will not have any sensation in those areas. Nerve injury can cause problems such as:

• Difficulty eating
• Biting lips, tongue, or insides of cheeks
• Unusual sensations
• Changes in the taste of foods

These problems can have a significant impact on your quality of life. 

How are Nerve Injuries Diagnosed?

Nerve injury is assessed using a scale called Neurosensory Testing (NST) that non-invasively tests the function of the nerve. This assessment allows Dr. Sonneveld to determine which nerves have been affected and how severely. The sooner your nerve injury is diagnosed, the more likely treatment can restore your normal function. 

How are Nerve Injuries Treated After Dental Surgery?

Most facial nerve injuries will heal without treatment within a few weeks or months after your dental surgery. While nerves heal slowly, many people eventually have a full recovery. For those who do not, treatment options include:

• Non-surgical rehabilitation exercises and treatments
• Surgical decompression (removing pressure from the nerve)
• Resecting a damaged section of the nerve and connecting the healthy parts
• Replacing a damaged section of the nerve with grafted donor nerve tissue

While surgical treatments will restore sensation for most people, some will continue to have lasting sensory effects after their nerve injury, and others may not experience much recovery. Your surgeon’s experience with treating nerve injuries plays a significant role in the recovery you are likely to see. 

Take the Next Step

If you have further questions about nerve injury after dental surgery, we encourage you to schedule a consultation at Faces Fort Worth. Call us at (817) 927-1818 or fill out our online contact form. We look forward to taking care of you.