What Causes Dental Nerve Damage?
The vast majority of the Georgia Dental Malpractice cases that we litigate involve damage to the Lingual Nerve or the Inferior Alveolar Nerve (or both). Recent studies have identified factors that contribute to the incident of nerve damage. Most are secondary to a dental procedure such as installing dental implants (when the nerve is crushed due to the implant being installed too deep) or oral surgery (when the nerve is ripped or severed during wisdom tooth extraction).
The factors identified as substantially increasing the risk of lingual nerve damage are: increased age of the patient undergoing the dental procedure; un-erupted wisdom tooth extraction; raising the lingual flap; and lingual split technique (splitting the bone to remove the tooth).
The factors identified as substantially increasing the risk of Inferior Alveolar Nerve damage are: the depth of impact; the difficulty of the surgery; and radiographic signs that the wisdom tooth root is lying in close proximity to the Inferior Alveolar Nerve or, similarly, that the nerve has grown into and created a groove into the wisdom tooth root.
When any of the above factors are present, there is much greater risk of injury and permanent dental nerve damage.
As an Atlanta dental malpractice lawyer who frequently meets with patients suffering from these injuries, I know how important it is to properly evaluate patients before oral surgeons extract teeth or install dental implants.
If you are a family members have suffered permanent dental nerve damage due to suspected dental malpractice, please call us today. We are experienced Georgia dental malpractice lawyers. We are here to help.
