The Legal News

Most everyone will have their wisdom teeth removed, its a very common procedure.  however if its done incorrectly, the patient can end up with a permanently numb tongue. Sensation and taste are delivered to the tongue through the lingual nerve.

The day after the tooth extraction if your tongue is still numb you should report this issue to the surgeaon who performed the work. Consider getting a second opinion from a clinic that examines and evaluates lingual nerve damage. This shoudl be done forthright if you are wanting to get the nerve repaired. Most oral surgeons believe the success rate is higher if it is addressed quickly.

Caution,  some patients who have an injured lingual nerve are informed that it was part of the consent form the patient signed or was a calculated risk of the procedure — that is nonsense and  irrelevant. The real issue is whether the wisdom tooth extraction was performed properly or not.