Nerve Damage & Burning Tongue

[linz]

Hi all,
I'm 27 and I got all 4 wisdom teeth extracted 8 days ago.
2 days after the surgery, I noticed that the right side of my tongue was numb and alternated between a burning and prickly or tingly sensation. Also, the whole floor of my mouth (where my saliva comes out) and underside of my tongue felt swollen and burning which was very uncomfortable. It continued to last.

I went to another dentist to get an opinion because the dentist who did the surgery was very uncommunicative and didn't make me feel safe during the procedure. (She was yelling at her assistant in a foreign language near the end of the surgery, so it seemed like she messed something up). This other dentist conducted an x-ray and saw that I had a nerve close to the lower right tooth extraction site. My original dentist did not inform me of this before the surgery, and that really upsets me because although I signed papers acknowledging the risks, I feel like I was not able to make an informed choice.

Eventually, I did go back to the original dentist to ask her about the nerve, and she acknowledged that she had seen it on the x-ray. However, she said that there was no difficulty extracting that particular tooth (I do remember that the lower left one took way longer and seemed to be stuck, compared to the lower right).
On day 7 post-op, the floor of my mouth no longer felt swollen and the right side of my tongue felt more normal/ seems to have regained sensation, although the tip and side still feels some prickles/burning.
Also, the numbness seems to have shifted to my right inner gums. The gum feels quite numb but if I touch the gums with my nail, I feel a slight pain sensation. The back of my tongue hurts/ feels like it's straining when I talk a lot.

The dentist said that my nerve will most likely heal in a few months and prescribed more steroids. But I'm wondering:
Is it a good sign if I feel burning/prickling rather than just numbness?
Could the straining in my tongue when I talk a lot be related to the nerve?
Is it good sign that the numbness has shifted from one place to another?
Would high-dose Vitamin B and C supplements help with nerve recovery?
Given the fact that my dentist said that the tooth was not wrapped around the nerve, is it very unlikely that the nerve was completely severed?

 

[Dr M]

Good day

Inferior Alveolar nerve damage is one of the most common complications, when removing wisdom teeth. Usually if there is a chance that the nerve can be involved, a referral to an oral surgeon is recommended for the removal of the teeth.
The nerve can sometimes be damaged due to mechanical trauma of the injection or the extraction itself. If the nerve was completely severed, you would most likely not have experienced a burning or prickling sensation.
It would be my opinion that the nerve got " bruised ". The inferior alveolar nerve also has branches that supply the lateral border of the tongue on the affected side.
This damage could be permanent, semi-permanent or transient.
Nerve damage can sometimes take up to a year to resolve. Sometimes even longer.
The fact that you have numbness that is decreasing in certain areas, as well as a burning sensation and sometimes even a pins and needles feeling, might be a sign of healing taking place.
I have seen some success with patients taking Vitamin B supplements that help to speed up nerve regeneration, but in the end, only time will tell if the damage is permanent or not.
All of this should have been part of the informed consent process that was discussed with you, prior to the extractions taking place.