Extreme pain and numbness 6 days after wisdom tooth extraction please help
 

Hello,

I am new here, found this forum while googling about my wisdom tooth issue and I am absolutely desperate for some advice.

I had my lower right wisdom tooth (which was impacted) extracted 6 days ago and I was told the extraction was very difficult (I was sedated and thankfully don't remember anything about it). I have been in excruciating pain ever since.

I was given antibiotics which I have taken religiously. I have been back to the dentist twice since as I can't bear the pain and my face/mouth/lips/chin are still completely numb. The first time I went I was given some prescription painkillers (30mg codeine) which are not even beginning to touch the pain. The second time I was given stronger antibiotics, even though they said there are no obvious signs of infection.

I am really worried that there has been some nerve damage, obviously due to the numbness but also the pain I have does not seem to be coming from the extraction site. It is an extreme sensitive pain in my lower teeth, radiating throughout my whole jaw, under my eye and up to my ear and temple. I have never felt anything like it and I am close to going mad, I literally do not know what else I can do.

I went back to my usual dentist today (was referred somewhere else for the extraction), who looked at it and said there is nothing else she can do for me, I just need to be patient and see her again in a couple of days if there is no improvement. No one seems concerned that I am still numb or that I have burning/icy sensations in my face, paralysing pain and my teeth feel like icy drills drilling right down to my jaw bone. I was so close to going to A&E last night (ER as you call it in the US), my family still think I should do so but I feel bad doing this when the dentists I have seen don't seem too concerned. I do feel that they don't seem to understand the level of the pain I am in, surely there should be some kind of relief after 6 days??!!

If anyone can offer any advice or reassurance from previous experiences they have had I would be so grateful xx

Sorry to see this has happened to you. Same thing happened to me with the same lower tooth only mine wasn't impacted and I wasn't sedated. It's your inferior alveolar nerve that something happened to. Don't waste your time with the dentist. Go back to the oral surgeon who extracted it and ask if your nerve was seen during the extraction. You may get better if the feeling starts to come back :hug:

Hi s4d1984,

This pain is beyond expected from a wisdom tooth extraction, even an impacted one. You need to see the oral surgeon who removed the tooth because he is the one who knows what took place during the extraction and it should all be recorded in his notes.

Sometimes there are some difficult tooth extractions that do involve certain nerves and most of the time the nerves calm down and the pain subsides. However, every case is different and the pain can sometimes linger or become sporadic over the course of weeks, months, even years. So is it best to see the oral surgeon and let him evaluate the situation as it is right now so he can make an assessment of what is going on and try to help you.

It is important that you be very specific with the type, degree, location and duration of the pain. Do not expect the oral surgeon to know any of those things based on looking at you.

Please check in with us to let us know how you are doing.
Bryanna

Thank you for the replies.

I have been back to the dental hospital where I had the extraction this morning. They gave me 100mg of Tramadol and said that if it worked I should call my gp for a prescription. They are also going to see me again next week to see how things are going. Unfortunately, although the Tramadol did help me relax quite a bit it didn't do much for the pain. I have rang my gp and explained all this and he has prescribed me Lyrica which is apparently specifically for nerve pain. I have just taken one now so fingers crossed it does something because I am really at my wits end now!! :(

s4d,

Did you actually see the oral surgeon who performed the extractions? That is who you need to see. Not another dentist or doctor or nurse.The surgeon will know what took place during the surgery and he should have recorded all of that in his surgical notes.

I am so sorry you are going through this. Unfortunately, your physician (MD) can only prescribe drugs because he has no clue about your dental surgery. Drugs are never without side effects or interactions with other things. So although they may be okay to use short term, I hope you realize that it may not be wise to look to this as a long term solution.

Bryanna

Thanks Bryanna.

Things have improved somewhat but are still no where near where where they should be. The Lyrica didn't seem to help at all so I am back on Tramadol.

I still haven't seen the consultant who did the extraction as apparently he never seems to be there. I have seen someone else though who was the first person to put my mind at semi-ease a little bit. He did an x-ray to confirm there was nothing left from the extraction (there wasn't) and confirmed the damage to the nerve. I am seeing them again in approx. 3 weeks from now. The pain is currently fluctuating between severe and sharp, to dulled but is always constant. The numbness is still present in my lip, chin and lower teeth and gums. I also have burning sensations, which are apparently a good sign that something is happening.

They have said all I can do is bear it and wait and see if/how the feeling is returning next time they see me. He said nerve damage takes up to a year to repair and so it is just a waiting game. I am back at work and eating better so that's something compared to the absolute hell of before, although I'm still worried about what the final out come of all this is going to be!

Hi s4d,

I still stress the need to see the oral surgeon who performed the surgery as he knows what he did and saw because he performed the surgery OR get a copy of the surgical report and take it to a neurologist. This other dentist cannot diagnose you with neuralgia just by looking at a dental x-ray. To medicate you for an undiagnosed problem and maybe even for a year or more of time just makes no sense.

It is good that your symptoms seem to be improving but that could also be just from the medication. What happens when the meds stop working?

I recommend seeing the treating oral surgeon and specifically asking him if he saw or touched the nerves as well as getting a copy of the surgical report for a neuro consult.

Bryanna

Dentists can diagnose nerve injury by symptoms alone. You either heal or you don't. The best indications of getting better would be improved symptoms in the first 90 days. Drugs don't kill the pain of a damaged nerve but they can help you cope better in other ways. If the pain gets worse before the 3 weeks is up? GO BACK TO THE DENTIST. A neurologist at this point would be useless.

Numbness/tingling/occasional burning on lower lip and chin
 

Hi S4d,

How are your symptoms now? Are you still experiencing pain? Are you able to sense more things now?