What does this mean?
The nerve carrying sensation from the lower teeth runs through a canal inside the bone and reaches the lip at the front of the jaw. Infection, a cyst or an impacted tooth close to that canal can press on the nerve, producing numbness, tingling or loss of sensation in the lip and chin.
What matters is how long it has lasted. A few hours of numbness after a local anaesthetic is expected. Numbness that persists well beyond that, or appears with no procedure at all, should be assessed; early action clearly improves the nerve's chance of recovering.
The usual dental causes are an infection nearing the nerve or pressure from an impacted tooth.
Likely causes
What helps at home?
- Note when the numbness started and which area it covers; that information speeds up the diagnosis
- Take care not to bite a numb lip; with no sensation it is easily injured unnoticed
- Numbness continuing after the anaesthetic has worn off
- Numbness appearing with no procedure at all
- Swelling or fever alongside the numbness
- The loss of sensation spreading
Frequently asked questions
- Will the numbness be permanent?
- Most cases recover over weeks or months once the pressure is removed. The longer it lasts the lower the chance of recovery, which is why it is not waited out.
- Is numbness after an extraction normal?
- A few hours is expected. Let your dentist know about numbness that continues the next day.
This content is for general information and does not replace an in-person examination. Symptoms overlap between conditions, and a diagnosis can only be made clinically.