Numbness in Left side Lips, Chin, Cheek, Gum and Teeth after RCT.

[seetwo]

Hi all,

This procedure happened in Australia since I'm not sure if they use different anaesthetics and or methods so I would like to make mention of this now.

I had my first RCT on November 22nd 2022, this was to clean most of the nerves as I was getting very bad tooth aches from #18. I had no issues with numbness after this appointment.

I had my 2nd RCT on Tuesday 13th December 2022.

I was administered local anaesthesic in my lower left jaw close to #17 as the tooth being worked on was #18, but as I wasn't feeling too numb from it, my GD injected the anaesthetic behind the gums of #20-#19 and infront of the gums of #20-#19 (Roughly), they all stung when injected, I was injected a total of 3 times in 3 different locations.

The treatment was going as planned until the very end, where my GD said that the very last Endo File tip broke inside my Root Canal.

I was told that since it was the last file they were using, and the inside of the roots are clean and disinfected. There was no issues with the endo file tip inside. He filled the tooth up with filling and the procedure was done.

I was not prescribed antibiotics for the 2nd RCT.

For time reference, the 2nd RCT started at 9:50 AM and finished around 11:23 AM. The local anaesthetic wore off around 12:40 PM and I was no longer numb and my tooth started aching badly. I was taking Neurofen and Panadol but they were not helping with the pain. I was also getting migraines and jaw pain on the left side of my face/head.

Please note that during all this time, I was no longer numbed from the Anaesthesia since it wore off until below this paragraph.

[IMPORTANT]

I took a nap at around 7:30 PM and woke up at roughly 7:40 PM from my tooth ache and migraine, i also noticed that my lips, chin, and cheeks were tingling like they were becoming numb...

I took another nap at roughly 8:00 PM and woke up at 8:15 PM again from the tooth ache and migraine. This time I noticed my lips, chin, cheeks were completely numb. By this point I am freaked out.

[IMPORTANT]

The night goes on with me frantically worrying and giving myself panick attacks. I feel asleep properly at around 3 AM, and woke up at 7 AM still with a numb face.

Morning comes through on Wednesday 14th December 2022 and I call the dental clinic first things first that they opened. 9 AM on the dot, I got an appointment at 12:30 PM and I went there.

My GD did some diagnostics like tapping #18 to see if there was pain, and pushing on my gums infront of #18 to see for pain. I responded with no pain for both tests.

He then told me that he doesn't know the reason to why my left side lips, chin, cheeks were numb.

He then felt my neck and said that it was swollen on the left side, which could be the reasoning to the numbness (I assume), that I am now stuck with.

I was then prescribed antibiotics and dexamethasone after this appointment.

The tooth ache has subsided by 90% with the antibiotics but the dexamethasone hasn't done anything with the swollen neck or numbness.

On Thursday 15th December 2022, I noticed that my teeth and gums from #17 to #23 are numb as well, Friday 16th is still the same deal with no easing on the numbness.

Please help, I'm having issues with eating food, I can't tell what is hot, what is cold and I keep spilling food because I can't tell where my spoon is, I'm accidentally biting my lips and cheeks and I can only tell that I've bit them when I'm tasting blood.




Who should I see to get this numbness identified?

Am I too late to get this issue fixed?

Is this nerve damage?
Is it permanent?

Please, please help me. What can I do and who should I see!

Thank you,
SeeTwo

 

[seetwo]

Hi, just wanted to give an update to my situation and kind of document this through, just in case someone else goes through this horrible experience in the later future.

It's been a week since the numbness has occurred after my RCT, It hasn't felt like the numbness has lessened and the numbed locations remains the same.

Sometimes the affected area bubbles and tingles for a few seconds and then stops, sometimes it has a weird stinging pain as well.

I've gotten fairly used to eating foods with a numb face, but it has ruined my enjoyment of eating in general so I just pick bland mushy food to not disappointment myself any further.

 

[MattKW]

Australia uses same anaesthetics as most developed countries, and your numbness won't be associated with that. Other possiblities are that the IAN was badly pranged during the injection - it happens rarely, and would normally pass within a couple of days. I'd be more concerned that perhaps the apices of your molar were close to the IAN, and that there has been over-irrigation (or maybe over-instrumentation?) during the prep with NaOCl. I would talk to your dentist and ask for a referral to an endodontist along with all the records (notes and X-rays).

 

[seetwo]

Hi MattKW,
Thanks for replying.

It's been just over 2 weeks and I'm still numb with the same feeling as I was when I wrote this thread. I can't tell if it's getting any better or any worse. I will note that the numb parts are starting to hurt from any kind of touch that isn't my own finger. If I was to describe how it feels, I guess kind of like a paper cut sting mixed with a painful bruise. My left side jaw is still sore from that procedure as well.

I'd be more concerned that perhaps the apices of your molar were close to the IAN, and that there has been over-irrigation (or maybe over-instrumentation?) during the prep with NaOCl.

I think the procedure took around 1 hour and 20 minutes, so I guess it could be over-instrumentation? My dentist also did break an endofile inside my root canal, the endofile tip is still inside my tooth.

My problem is that the anesthetics wore off 2 hours after the appointment.
I was eating McDonald's French fries which were soggy and some bits were hard, then I started going numb again few hours later and it has been numb ever since.
Which leads me to think I could have an overfilled tooth, because I did eat a little bit on the side of my RT.

I haven't been able to speak with my Dentist since their clinic is closed until 2023, so I can't get any answers or any solutions, and trying to find information through google isn't very helpful and just creates more confusion and panic. All I'm getting from Google is TMJ, IAN, etc.

My next appointment is next year Jan 4th.

Thank you.

 

[seetwo]

So... it's been 6 weeks and it's still numb, I'm not sure if it's lessened or if I'm getting used to it being numb.

My dentist said he can't do anything about it but only watch what's happening and hope it doesn't turn out worse.

 

[toothman88]

So... it's been 6 weeks and it's still numb, I'm not sure if it's lessened or if I'm getting used to it being numb.

My dentist said he can't do anything about it but only watch what's happening and hope it doesn't turn out worse.

Sorry to hear you went through this. How are you doing now?

 

[seetwo]

Sorry to hear you went through this. How are you doing now?

I feel like I have gotten much better around April 2023, it feels like majority of the numbness has gone away but there are some spots that are still very slightly numb. Touching my chin in some spots will send a tingling feeling towards my lip and under my chin closer towards the neck.

I can't really describe it, but the best way is that it feels like "numbed" area is slightly heavier than the unaffected sided. Simply put it just doesn't feel the same and I can tell that something doesn't feel right. The left side is slightly less sensitive than my right side.
However, I am pretty used to it and my teeth and gums aren't numb anymore so eating isn't really an issue anymore but there are some days where my chin just feels really weird.

I hope it still has some more healing to go through so it doesn't feel so weird, but I would rather the feeling I am having now rather than being completely numb like I was just after the RCT.