Exploring Oral Health Symptoms, Issues and Solutions

Numbness and Tingling After a Dental Implant

It can be uncomfortable or somewhat painful when you try to eat with missing teeth. Your remaining teeth take on extra work as their bite force compensates for their absent counterparts, and foods with rough edges (such as chips) could easily aggravate your exposed gums that used to host a tooth. Dental implants are an efficient way to overcome this issue since the process offers a permanent replacement that mimics the missing tooth, both in look and in function. You would think that this discomfort while eating would immediately vanish once your implant has been installed, and in the majority of cases, this is absolutely what happens. But what about when that discomfort or some mild pain continues once the implant has been finalised? 

Aggravation

Although dental implants are installed in your jaw with surgical precision, they can sometimes have an effect on the surrounding tissue. An implant consists of three parts, namely the titanium bolt inserted into your jaw, the abutment that is affixed to the tip of the bolt and the prosthetic tooth that is cemented to the abutment. It's rare, but in some cases, the position of the titanium bolt can aggravate other nerves in your jaw.

Numbness and Tingling

This nerve damage is generally indicated by a sensation of numbness or tingling. It can be centred around the site of the implant, but it can also be experienced in your tongue, lips or elsewhere in your face. The sensation can sometimes escalate to discomfort and mild pain while eating because the pressure of chewing and eating places force on the implant, which in turn aggravates the nerve that it has been positioned too close to.

Nerve Damage

It's important to remember that while it can take a short amount of time to get used to the feeling of a dental implant, ongoing numbness, tingling and discomfort are not usual, nor should they simply be tolerated. If this happens to you after you've received an implant, see your dentist immediately. Nerve damage won't simply rectify itself, and the implant might need to be removed. The nerve damage can then be treated as necessary before the implant is reinserted in a manner that doesn't aggravate the nerve, whether this is with a minuscule repositioning when compared to the original location or by using a shorter bolt than the original implant.

If your dental implant has resulted in an unpleasant feeling of numbness or tingling, it's important to schedule an appointment with your dentist.

For more information on dental implants, contact a dentist.


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