I have received permanent nerve damage from my wisdom tooth extraction.4 months ago went in for a routine wisdom tooth removal on all 4 teet...

Question

I have received permanent nerve damage from my wisdom tooth extraction.

4 months ago went in for a routine wisdom tooth removal on all 4 teeth. I was not notified of any nerve damage that may result from the surgery. Immediately following the surgery I started having numbness and a lack of feeling on the left side of my tongue and total numbness on the left side of my bottom lip down my chin. It has not gotten any better since. I have talked with two oral surgeons who said they would not have done the procedure due to the risk of nerve damage.

I drool from the left side of my mouth, have difficultly speaking property and have problems eating, along with an infrequent plain on the left side of my mouth.

I have also received my bachelor's degree in journalism and had dreams of being a radio reporter, which is not longer possible.

So:

-No notification of risk from surgery

-Permanent nerve damage

-Infrequent pain, complete numbness, and difficulty eating and speaking.

-Damage to career.

Do you think I have a case for a dental malpractice suit?

Answer

Hello there--glad you wrote even though (or precisely because) you're so miserable. Yes, you may have a claim. How strong it is, and how much you might recover, depend on an expert analysis by one or more experienced oral surgeons.

I make no claim to be such an expert, but parasthesia is indeed a known potential consequence of surgery to remove a third molar. Some factors affecting that risk, and thus the choice whether to remove a third molar, are the tooth's degree of impaction, its present or potential effect on neighboring teeth, its position relative to the nerve, and how much bone has accumulated around it. Also, as you may already know, altered or diminished feeling due to surgery-related nerve trauma may abate within months to a year, and only in a small minority of cases is the damage permanent, so you may yet recover some, most or all of the feeling you've lost.

If most or all the nerve damage is permanent, that leaves us with the liability question. Experts will examine you for what sort of damage and what it was about hte surgery that led to it; the latter especially may be less than obvious and therefore debatable. What did your dentist say warranted the surgery? Were the teeth causing you pain? A lot? Which ones? Were they pressing against neighboring molars, affecting your bite, jaw movements or speech? (I know, molars don't often do those things.) Did you get a second opinion? (Don't feel bad, most people don't.) The other side will ask you whether you'd have gone through with the surgery had the risks been explicitly stated; everyone has 20/20 hindsight, so you'll have to search your soul, and the best time to do that is before you start down the road to litigation.

All that said, it sounds like a case worth a closer look. I'd be willing to review the medical records, show them to an expert, talk with the two oral surgeons who gave you their take, evaluate the case with one of the extremely seasoned malpractice counsel I work with, and give you an opinion of the merits of this. All without charge, that's how contingent fee arrangements work. I'm an experienced lawyer licensed in Va., Md. and D.C., former DOJ litigator, with a practice representing ordinary people in civil rights, consumer, personal injury and elder law. Please feel free to write or call in confidence. My phone is (202) 642-1431, and you can leave a detailed message if I don't pick up. It's your decision what to do next, whether to pursue this and which lawyer to choose if you do consult one or more. This won't be easy, but let's take a better look and see what's realistic. Bravo for standing up for your rights. --Steve Pershing.