Oct 20, 2010: I had my bottom right wisdom tooth extracted. It was impacted. It was a difficult extraction and took two dentists to completely extracted my roots. I was under local anesthetic and was awaken during the whole procedures. It took the dentists 1.5 hours to extract my wisdom tooth. The operation ended at 12:54 pm. At 7 pm, I could still feel numbness on my bottom left lip, chin, and outer gum. I called and the dentist said it's normal and the symptom might continue to occur for a week or two and maybe months. The area of extraction stopped bleeding around 4 pm. I took the pain killer and antibiotic during my lunch (around 2 pm) and dinner (around 8 pm). I didn't realize any swollen or bruise on my face. I used ice pack to compress my chin, lip, and cheek even though I couldn't feel them. I could still taste with my tongue which meant my lingual nerve was spared. I was able to speak properly but slowly due to the extraction. I had to carefully chew because I had bitten my lip once without me feeling it.
Oct 21, 2010: I woke up and scared because the numbness was still there. I could feel some prickling and throbbing sensation over the numb area but nothing more. I still ate my pain killer during lunch time but I skipped during dinner since I didn't feel a lot of pain. The pain was mainly throbbing and I just took a nap around 5 pm. The gum and teeth felt tight. Just like the feeling when you had just adjusted your braces.
Oct 22, 2010: I felt some wave sensation during the day. The prickling and numbness still stays. I ate my pain killer during lunch time and skipped the dinner pain killer. The tight gum and teeth feeling was still there. I started taking B complex since some said it helped with the regeneration of nerve. (http://www.numb-nerve.com/)
Oct 23, 2010: I woke up and felt the wavy sensation again. Tight gum and teeth persisted. The throbbing extended to my right temple next to my right eye. My bottom left cheek and chin were a bit swollen. My chin and lip felt swollen too. When I ate, I could tell that the extraction area was hurting. I took another pain killer for lunch and dinner. I started to eat normal food today. I took a nap but the pain was still there. The dentist called to check up on me during lunch time. However, at that time the pain was still bearable. I went to bed with hope the pain would not be as bad.
Oct 24, 2010: I woke up with no sensation. I was surprised but when I touched my chin and lip, I knew the numbness was still there. My cheek and chin were still a bit swollen. There was no throbbing headache or tingling sensation. Just the numb. The morning was good. We had lunch and I skipped my pain killer. However, as the day progress, the throbbing, wavy sensation, prickling, tightness became worse. Today the pain was the worst. However, when I started taking leisure walk by the ocean with my husband, all those pain become dull and just the feeling of numbness stayed. It was good since I was not hurting as much. However, during the drive to the ocean, I was scared the nerve would not heal and cried. He really couldn't do anything for me but to comfort me. I was already able to brush my right bottom teeth without any pain. However, the tightness was still there and I still couldn't feel the bristle of the toothbrush on my bottom right gum.
Oct 25, 2010: I woke up with no sensation again. I stayed home and just do some house chores. There wasn't any much sensation the whole afternoon. I was not sure if it's a good sign or a bad sign. Around 6.30 pm, I felt the throbbing, and some sudden wavy sensation which persisted. When I touched the bottom right jaw, the bone felt like when you fell down and knocked your jaw to some hard concrete. Under that condition, you would see the bruise but when you touched it, you could feel the pain and that's the pain that I had but without the black and blue color. The tension on the teeth were less. I found this answer online to just rule out if the injury is permanent or if the injury to the nerve is healing. It's relieving...
Wisdom - It is not unusual for nerves to go through a state of poor functioning after surgery near the tooth. It could be from trauma of force near the nerve or it could just be from bleeding in the area of the extraction putting pressure in the nerve canal. The main thing is the quality of the numbness. If it is completely numb for a couple of months, it is not a good sign, but if you even get a slight itching, burning or even small shocks, it means the nerve is in a process of healing. That healing can take a year of so. If at two months there is no sensation at all, then the surgeon may need to think of alternatives to heal the nerve.
So it is too early to even think about worrying. You need to just be aware of the sensations. If there are any, that is a good sign. Write down any changes you notice. The surgeon needs to have you come to the office to be followed on a regular basis to determine any changes.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ocw1tsNKW9sJ:en.allexperts.com/q/Oral-Surgery-3405/2009/11/wisdom-teeth-question-1.htm+sign+healing+inferior+alveolar+nerve&cd=26&hl=en&ct=clnkAt night, I felt this ticklish sensation at the bottom of my chin.
Oct 26, 2010: I went to the dentist today to pull out the thread on my surgical location. There were this whitish layer on top of the extraction area. When I checked online, it was called the "granulation tissue". According to some forums, the granulation tissue is pinkish / red. However inside the mouth, it's white / grayish because the top layer is dead and it will shed. My dentist also said it will shed away and I shouldn't poke it or tore the white part away. This will lead to bleeding and delay the healing process. After my dentist checked my jaw and the location of the numbness, she said the injury was not permanent. She said if the nerve was cut off or severely injured (that would caused permanent injury), the whole area from cheek, chin, lip, and gum would be numb too. Since mine was just a section of my chin, lip, and gum, the injury was minute. She said the injury could have been on the inferior alveolar canal. I was totally relieved. I still feel the tingling and ticklish sensation on my bottom lip and chin. I could still feel the pain on my jaw.
Oct 27, 2010: I have no more throbbing headache. I could feel the tingling and ticklish sensation on my bottom lip and chin like yesterday. My jaw was not as hurt as yesterday.
Oct 28, 2010: The tingling, and ticklish sensation still stayed. My bottom right teeth and gum felt the sensation that I can only describe like eating something very sour and your felt your teeth were about to melt. The generative tissue seemed to have disappeared.
Oct 29, 2010 - Oct 31, 2010: The tingling and ticklish sensation stayed. I noticed them less because I occupied myself with activities. The tension on my teeth were still there. I tried not to bite with them because I would bite my numbed lip without me feeling it. I also felt that after - sour food sensation on my bottom right chin.
Nob 1, 2010 - Nov 8, 2010: not much improvement yet. I tried to bite using my right jaw more often because my left jaw was hurting. It was not used much before. However, biting using the numb side was just a hassle because I often bit my inner lip without me knowing it. I really wish I can feel again.
Nov 9, 2010 - Nov 11, 2010: My left jaw was not hurting as much anymore. The numb side was hurting but not that I cannot handle. The feeling was like after being burnt. Like when you accidentally touched hot pans on your arm or skin, you would feel that burn and hurt feeling in the background of your daily life. The tightness on my teeth has lessen. I have tried to chew a bit on my right side. The tingling sensation still occurs sometime.
Nov 12, 2010 - Nov 18, 2010: I didn't feel that the numbness limit my usage of my lower lip anymore. It's just that sometimes, I could still feel pain around the area. My right bottom teeth and gum still felt tight. I bit my lip less often now. My left jaw also getting stronger therefore less pain. Tingling still there when I paid attention to it but if not, I didn't feel much anymore.
Nov 19, 2010 - Nov 24, 2010: Nothing different from previous week.
Nov 25, 2010 - Dec 1, 2010: Suddenly, my lower teeth were super sensitive to cold. I first felt it on the 25th during my painting class when I sucked in cold water (not iced cold though). It was like those when you ate or drank super cold water. It sucked. Until now, I still felt the sensitive sensation even when I brushed my teeth. I really didn't and don't like it. I hoped this feeling disappear soon and had the sensation of my lip again. About a month ago, I found this blog that mentioned the recovering stages which I thought was very helpful. (http://www.sciential.net/dcforum/DCForumID9/113.html)
Dec 2, 2010 - Dec 4, 2010: That sensation of eating something super sour or super cold still persisted. When I touched my right bottom jaw or cheek, it hurt and super sensitive. It really was not a good feeling but definitely better than not to feel anything. Hopefully, my IAN recover ASAP.
Dec 5, 2010 - Dec 17, 2010: Same as the previous entry... still sensitive and getting even more sensitive by the day....
Dec 18, 2010 - Dec 23, 2010: The sensitivity level had increased to the point where I felt the sour feeling when the water droplets from shower head hit my bottom right chin and lip. Completely not cool. When I slept or eat or anything I did, I had to try not to touch the injured area in order to avoid the sourness... When I touched the area with my finger nails, I could feel tingling or more like electricity trying to connect. So yeah, I guess the nerves were really trying to connect and heal. Hopefully, the recovery will be soon.
Dec 24, 2010 - Jan 11, 2011: So far, not much changes had happened. I still had the sour sensation. I tried not to touch the sensitive area too much. However, it really was not something that you can avoid. So I just have to bear with the uncomfortable sensation. These couple days, I kept on biting my numbed bottom lip again. I can feel a pang of pain when it was bitten. I guess that's a good thing. However, my inner lip was swollen after the first bite and increased the chance of being bitten again. It totally was not nice except the pain was less if compared to the healthy side.
