Signs of nerve injury from wisdom tooth extraction

The manifestation of nerve injury from wisdom tooth extraction is related to the damaged nerve and mainly manifests as abnormal sensations such as numbness, tingling or ankylosis on the skin surface of the relevant area. Usually no nerve damage is caused during wisdom tooth extraction, but if the root tip of the wisdom tooth is deeper or closer to the nerve, it may cause nerve damage. The common damaged nerves are the inferior alveolar nerve and the lingual nerve, and the different nerves damaged by wisdom tooth extraction cause different performance: 1. Inferior alveolar nerve: it is one of the common nerves easily damaged when wisdom tooth extraction. The numbness, tingling and ankylosis of the skin of the lower lip or jaw on the side where the wisdom tooth was extracted may occur. 2. Lingual nerve: Since the lingual nerve is located under the lingual mucosa next to the wisdom tooth, that is, in front of the lower alveolar nerve, it may be damaged during wisdom tooth extraction. The manifestations of lingual nerve injury mainly include numbness on one side of the tongue, as well as numbness on the jaw face and loss of taste sensation on the tongue on the side of tooth extraction. Treatment of inferior alveolar nerve injury can be facilitated by taking oral nerve-nourishing drugs such as vitamin B1, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 to promote recovery. Usually, the damaged nerve can recover on its own within a few months, and oral function is generally not significantly affected during this period. In addition, detailed imaging should be performed before performing wisdom tooth extraction to clarify the location of the root, and the force applied to the apical direction should be minimized to reduce the possibility of nerve damage in the oral cavity.