Wisdom Tooth Extractions And Medical Malpractice Due To Nerve Injuries

No one likes to go to the dentist, and no one likes to have a tooth pulled. But this is still thought to be a pretty basic procedure, particularly when that tooth is a wisdom tooth. However, there are some horror stories of patients DYING in wisdom tooth extractions due to overdoses of anesthesia. While that is medical malpractice for sure for a wrongful death case, that is a very uncommon scenario.

What is a much more common scenario is for there to be errors in extracting the wisdom tooth. One of the more common errors is a nerve injury. The bottom wisdom teeth typically sit on or near a facial nerve. That nerve is very exposed and can be injured if the wisdom tooth is improperly extracted. If that nerve is injured, it can result in permanent numbness to the lip, tongue, cheek, chin, and other parts of the face. Sometimes a repair will help work to fix the damage, but other times it will not or could even make it worse.

Some common examples of nerve damage caused by a wisdom tooth extraction include the following:
applying too much pressure to the tooth before extracting;
pulling the tooth with too much force;
breaking the tooth and having to fish out fragments;
tooth fragments causing injuries to the nerve;
infections;
slipping with extractor tools and hitting the nerve;
improper injections; and
damage to tissue causing swelling on the nerve.

While other types of injuries to the tissue or even the jawbone may heal, injuries to the nerves tend to not feel very well and tend to cause permanent damage. While wisdom tooth extractions can be very basic sounding procedures, nerve damage can be an unfortunately cause resulting from medical malpractice.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com. You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.