Let me know how this turns out... have a family member who is in the same boat after a root canal actually (just a numb cheek, but still no fun...)

I'd sue for sure. People get money for way less than this. On the bright side, if you can still taste on one side, I suppose you could get used to it. There was a kid in my HS who pierced his own tongue, hit a nerve and almost choked when it swelled... and also lost ALL his ability to taste.

 

I know quite a bit about this--happened to me.

The symptoms you describe are a result of your lingual nerve being damaged. This nerve is NOT AFFECTED BY THE ACTUAL REMOVAL OF THE TOOTH, as the lingual nerve that services the tongue does not run through the jaw, gums, etc. If your lingual nerve was traumatized, it happened when they were injecting the anesthesia. The lingual nerve runs through the trunk of nerves in your jowl and then down into your tongue. Since the jowl (back corner of your mouth) is where the dentist injects the nerve-blocker, this is the only point in the procedure when he would have been anywhere your lingual nerve (unless he was operating on your tongue, which I hope he wasn't).

The nerve that runs through your jaw is called the inferior alveolar nerve; this is the one frequently messed up by extractions of the wisdom tooth itself. Frequently in severe impactions, the roots of the tooth are wrapped around or very close to the alveolar nerve, and is difficult to see on xray until they open you up. If the alveolar nerve is traumatized, you will notice pain, numbness, or both--from the corner of your mouth to the mid point on your lower lip, and down about one inch. This was my condition.

Dentist (not oral surgeon, what a mistake that was) had me in the chair for over 3 hours, 2+ of which was my lower left wisdom tooth. It was a surgical extraction. He had to grind away the jawbone to get the tooth out, and even then he had to take the tooth out in pieces. He even nicked the roots of the adjacent tooth with his drill, and it later had to be extracted as well. During the procedure he traumatized the alveolar nerve on the left side. Post-op I had 0% feeling in my lower left lip. I was lucky; at least I was just numb and not in pain. Difficult to talk, eat, I kept biting it, etc. This continued for about 2-3 months. After 12 months I had recovered roughly 85-90% feeling, and that's where it stopped. It still feels funny but I have gotten used to it. Time, and lots of B6 and B12 vitamins, are the only things that helped me recover. Unless your nerve was completely severed, microsurgery will NOT help you. If it was severed, reconnecting it may work, it may not. It may leave you with a lifetime of pain instead.

No lawyer in my area wanted to take up my case. It seems that most lawyers don't want to go after medical malpractice, especially where it involves nerve damage (something very difficult to diagnose/prove). I guess they don't feel the average "return on investment" is worth it. Since I was one of the lucky ones (no pain, 90% normal function) I decided to just leave it be. The dentist got his; I reported him to the state board and then he had some totally unrelated legal problems in regards to how he kept his animals at home...

The message board below helped me a great deal in regards to this injury. If you have any more questions PM me.

http://www.sciential.net/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi

 

I later thought this also. See, it HELPS to be a surgeon; it means you're a specialist--but it turns out any quack with an MD or a DMD is allowed by law to open you up.