- Joined
- Apr 7, 2025
- Messages
- 1
From UK
Last month I had a root canal on my lower right second premolar. The procedure went well, experienced no pain but the following morning my lower right front teeth, gum, lip and chin still felt numb as though the anaesthetic hadn’t wore off. Informed my dentist who thought the needle had hit a nerve and said just to give it time.
Over the course of a week, the symptoms changed and the numbness became more intense and there was a burning pain. Also a swollen lump had formed on my gum directly below the tooth.
Follow up appointment a week later, x-ray showed the root canal filling material had perforated the apex of the tooth and there was an opaque liquid looking mass in the mental foramen. My dentist removed the filling material and cleaned out the canal with saline solution, put a temporary filling on and made an urgent referral to the Dental Hospital.
I had a CBCT scan and consultation with an oral surgery team at the hospital. They confirmed that a perforation in the tooths root during the root canal, had allowed the calcium hydroxide leak into the mental foramen and damage the mental nerve. They said surgery was the only option to remove the chemical but as it had sat in the mental foreman for over a week before saline cleansing was performed, they thought surgery wouldn’t fix the damage and would just make symptoms much worse. Instead they advised no treatment and just monitoring over 12-18 months to see if feeling would return but they weren’t optimistic.
My dentist has since completed the root canal and thinks that feeling will return over time, which contradicts the surgeons diagnosis.
Over the past four weeks I’ve experienced a whole range of unusual sensations in my lower chin area including prickly, tingly feelings which gave me hope nerve feeling was returning. But the past week these tingly feelings have stopped completely and my chin feels like a heavy weight is pulling it down constantly. The numbness of my lower teeth, gum, lip and chin is still there and my chin and lip feels swollen all the time (not physically, just feels it). The swelling feels worse when my body temperature increases i.e. from physical exercise, hot drinks, even the weather. Talking and eating also makes it feel worse.
Has anybody experienced a situation like this and did you regain any feeling back over time?
Last month I had a root canal on my lower right second premolar. The procedure went well, experienced no pain but the following morning my lower right front teeth, gum, lip and chin still felt numb as though the anaesthetic hadn’t wore off. Informed my dentist who thought the needle had hit a nerve and said just to give it time.
Over the course of a week, the symptoms changed and the numbness became more intense and there was a burning pain. Also a swollen lump had formed on my gum directly below the tooth.
Follow up appointment a week later, x-ray showed the root canal filling material had perforated the apex of the tooth and there was an opaque liquid looking mass in the mental foramen. My dentist removed the filling material and cleaned out the canal with saline solution, put a temporary filling on and made an urgent referral to the Dental Hospital.
I had a CBCT scan and consultation with an oral surgery team at the hospital. They confirmed that a perforation in the tooths root during the root canal, had allowed the calcium hydroxide leak into the mental foramen and damage the mental nerve. They said surgery was the only option to remove the chemical but as it had sat in the mental foreman for over a week before saline cleansing was performed, they thought surgery wouldn’t fix the damage and would just make symptoms much worse. Instead they advised no treatment and just monitoring over 12-18 months to see if feeling would return but they weren’t optimistic.
My dentist has since completed the root canal and thinks that feeling will return over time, which contradicts the surgeons diagnosis.
Over the past four weeks I’ve experienced a whole range of unusual sensations in my lower chin area including prickly, tingly feelings which gave me hope nerve feeling was returning. But the past week these tingly feelings have stopped completely and my chin feels like a heavy weight is pulling it down constantly. The numbness of my lower teeth, gum, lip and chin is still there and my chin and lip feels swollen all the time (not physically, just feels it). The swelling feels worse when my body temperature increases i.e. from physical exercise, hot drinks, even the weather. Talking and eating also makes it feel worse.
Has anybody experienced a situation like this and did you regain any feeling back over time?