Feelings of numbness on skin surface 2 days after a lot of novocaine

Joined
Mar 22, 2021
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Spent 3.25 hours in the chair to get a cleaning, an older filling polished that was causing pain when flossing, and a crown on a cracked tooth with a large silver filling. Not sure how much novocaine I got, but it was probably more than I've ever gotten before.

Basically, I was feeling a lot of pain during the beginning of the drilling on the cracked tooth, when they were removing silver filling material. I let them know and we did two more rounds of novocaine (since it happened twice). It turned out to be that my tooth directly above that one, which had a recent crown and needs a root canal, was actually causing referred pain just from the cool water and suction. The pain appeared to me to be coming from the bottom, where they were drilling.

I had one of those squares that is put between the teeth to keep the mouth open since I have TMJ and a difficult time keeping it open. It felt like it stretched the muscles too far, there was a ripping kind of pain. I had some minor lockjaw afterwards - today is 2 days later and it's starting to loosen up. I can open about an inch now, whereas initially afterwards I could open maybe half an inch.

The thing that has been concerning is I am having sensations of numbness. Mostly I felt it on my cheek skin, sometimes near the side of the skull. The cheek tissue itself looks a little plumper. I normally have a thin face and low body fat, but one of my cheeks looks a bit fatter and saggy at the moment. Pretty mild, not too noticeable.

I'm wondering if there is a chance there was some kind of nerve damage, or if this is a normal response to maybe too much novocaine. I'm a bit nervous that maybe one of the injections hit a nerve? Would love some kind of feedback to give me peace of mind that this is normal and will pass.
 

honestdoc

Verified Dentist
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Jun 14, 2018
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You're right to have concerns of possible nerve damage because of your residual numbness. It is very rare to have permanent nerve damage from anesthesia. The nerve has a lot of potential to heal so I anticipate full nerve recovery and sensation.
 

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Joined
Mar 22, 2021
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Thank you so much for the reply. I am feeling slightly less numbness today and my mouth has been able to open an extra quarter inch since posting. The cheek still looks ever so slightly puffy, and I am hoping all the tissue returns to normal again eventually. Thank you for the peace of mind.
 

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