Hi Doc. I had my 4 wisdom teeth removed a year ago, but since then, the left side of my tongue has this constant metallic taste, that changes every now and again from bitter, to sweet, to sour, and salty. My dentist said the nerve was stretched causing trauma to the left side of my tongue when he was removing my lower left wisdom teeth. He said it would resolve overtime, but its been over a year now, and even when I went back to the dental office, he could not recommend any medication etc. To help with my symptoms. The left side of my tongue feels even burnt, and some days extremely dry. Its been constantly changing weeks at a time for the past year. Is there anything you can recommend I do to cure this injury. I would really really appreciate it. I barely make it through the day sometimes. I look forward to your reply.
Hello there....your dental surgeon is absolutely right....when you have the wisdom tooth very close to the nerve, at the time of its removal, there is some amount of pressure that exerts over the nerve (called neuropraxia). This cause reversible loss of sensation on that side of the lip and skin of face...but the tongue is supplied by a different nerve called lingual nerve...in few patients the nerve is located very close to the bone level where the tooth is present. Any injury while removal of the tooth will result in the same phenomenon....you experience all the symptoms you have mentioned...there are no medications at this point of time....it takes a weeks time for some patients...and years for some others...it would get restored at some point of time...don't worry.... keep consuming lots of water to avoid Chat Doctor. ...