Tingling/Numbness After Attempted Implant
 

Nearly 2 years ago I sought dental implant in my lower right side. The dentist informed me that I would need bone grafting for the implant to work. Bone grafting was undertaken and the implant followed, only the post was put in. Following the surgery, I experienced numbness/tingling sensation in the lip area in front of the implant.

I informed my dentist of the sensation, but he thought it would heal in time. After, maybe 6 months the tingling sensation remained. I informed the dentist and it was decided to remove the post, hoping that the tingling sensation would go. A bridge was installed instead.

It has now been 2 years and the tingling/numbness sensation is still there, in addition there is frequently a sensation that there is excessive saliva in my mouth and the need to swallow is sometimes conscious.

I did seek an opinion from another dentist and I believe he said something like the directional nerve appears to have been stretched when the anesthesia needle was being injected. However, he offered no solution.

The bone graft that was put in, is still there, could that possibly give a clue about a remedy. At times the tingling sensation is more obvious than other times and this gives me hope that it may go away. I have recently started on Blackmores Vitamin B and that seems to help a bit.

I would be very grateful if someone could please give me some direction about a possible remedy.

Kind Regards
Paul

Hi Paul,

I am in the dental field and can offer you some information here.

Was the bone grafting done in the same appointment as the placement of the dental implant? If done on separate dates, did you experience the sensations after the first or second surgery?

It is possible to nick or stretch a nerve during an anesthetic injection. Nerves run in bundles and are generally located in certain areas of the body. However, some people have unusual and unexpected patterns of nerves so although care is taken to not injure the nerves, it can happen.

The degree of severity can depend on the number of times the irritation or injury has occurred to that same bundle of nerves, which could may or may not have occurred with each injection during each subsequent surgery. The duration of physical sensations from nerve irritations can run from a few hours to indefinitely. The fact that you are getting some positive changes and some relief are good signs that the nerves are healing. But no one can tell you if these changes will continue to be positive or the sensations will recur or move elsewhere.

It is wise to take the B complex as the B's do help with nerve healing. A product you might want to look into is by Thorne and it's called B complex #12. It offers a great potency of various B vitamins and an excellent source of easily absorb-able Methaltetrohydrofolate. I have found great results in using this product myself and so have those I have suggested it to. For acute or chronic nerve symptoms, the initial dosage would be 3 per day as directed on the bottle and then after 3 months you could taper down to 2 and then to one if you were feeling better. B vitamins are water soluble so you eliminate any excess via urine. They do make the urine very yellow ;)

Bryanna