Numbness in tongue 2 years after upper/lower jaw surgery

[gustaffson]

hey everyone


I have been getting numbness in my tongue the last couple of weeks..the numbness feels like it creeps into my teeth also.... Ive had CT scans on my brain and anything neurological has been ruled out.


I am now thinking it may be related to my orthognathic surgery 2 years ago... My suspicion is that there may be a bone chip that has been floating around inside there the whole time and may have made its way down to the nerve leading to my tongue, and is causing this problem.


THis is not as far fetched as it seems considering I already pulled a shard of bone out of the back of my mouth about a month after my surgery. Im lucky that even fund its way out, and now im thinking its possible there may be more loose bone pieces somewhere inside wreaking havoc.


Any advice would be appreciated.

[TwitBerry]

Hi,

I have increasing numbness of the gums, face, head, ear, and eye on my right side, but this is due to a non-union (or mal-union) of the jaw and, possibly, from damage to my right joint.

I've heard of others that have had bone fragments emerge after dental procedures but have no idea whether or not a fragment could compress a nerve. I suppose it's possible. Is this the first time that you've had any numbness since your surgery? Maybe consider getting a 3D CT (CBCT)? It's a pretty sophisticated scan, and your doctor can check the nerves for compression or other problems.

[ColoradoGirl]

Hey gustaffson,

I think you should definitely contact your surgeon about this issue. So many weird numbness things can be attributed to normal healing, but if you're at all unsure I think a call/email to your surgical office would be helpful; then you can decide on any scans/tests they recommend.