Will the lingual nerve fully recover?

Question

Three months ago, my tongue was also anesthetized during dental treatment. Since then, I have had a feeling on my tongue as if I had eaten too hot and burnt my tongue. My sense of taste is also impaired. My dentist says that this can happen in very rare cases. It takes a lot of patience, but the feeling will come back. Is that true? R. S. in R. 

Short answer

Injuries to the lingual nerve can occur during a surgical procedure or during local anesthesia in the mouth. However, this is extremely rare. Most injuries heal without any problems within a year. The lingual nerve will recover completely. Patience is required, as nerve healing takes place very slowly. This process can be supported by taking vitamin B tablets.

Fortunately, most injuries to the lingual nerve heal without any problems within a year. Your lingual nerve will also recover completely, as it was only anesthetized during the local anesthetic and was probably slightly injured by the syringe needle. Patience is required, as nerve healing takes place very slowly. 

You can support this process with the daily intake of vitamin B tablets. 

Lingual nerve in the floor of the mouth 

A nerve (lingual nerve) runs in the floor of the mouth on the left and right under the tongue, which is responsible for the sensation of taste and for feeling on the tongue. If the function of this nerve fails, there is a loss of taste sensation on the tongue and a disturbance of perception (similar to a tongue burnt by food that is too hot). 

The course of this nerve cannot be felt or seen from the outside, nor can it be shown on an X-ray. However, the dentist knows where this nerve runs and will do everything possible to avoid damaging it during treatment. 

Minimal risk of injury 

In principle, injuries to the lingual nerve can still occur during a surgical procedure (wisdom tooth removal) or during local anesthesia (injury caused by the syringe needle). A recently published study by the University of Basel makes it clear that nerve injuries occur very rarely during the removal of wisdom teeth: In 2384 extractions, however, injury to the lingual nerve occurred in just 5 cases. And only one of these 5 patients still showed a disturbance of the sense of taste after one year. All other disorders have completely disappeared. 

Although local anesthetics are used very frequently in dental practices and a syringe needle can injure the lingual nerve, this also happens extremely rarely. A statistical study showed that this only happens in one in 200,000 punctures. The probability of injury is therefore basically minimal. 

Author: Dr. med. dent. Jürg Eppenberger
Published in: Neue Luzerner Zeitung on December 06, 2006