Is numbness after implant surgery normal?
In the first hours, yes. An implant is usually placed under local anaesthetic, and that anaesthetic can also affect your lip, chin and part of your tongue. According to University College London Hospitals (UCLH), a local anaesthetic in the mouth should wear off in 2 to 6 hours; Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust describes a numb or tingling sensation around parts of the face and mouth that can last several hours. Until it has worn off, avoid hot food and drinks and be careful not to bite your lip or tongue.
It is different if the numbness lasts longer than the anaesthetic, for example into the next morning. The implant or the surgery may then have irritated a nerve, and you should report that without delay. Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust asks patients with altered sensation to contact their treating dentist or surgeon straight away.
Which nerves can be affected?
The two nerves usually involved in numbness lie in the lower jaw. Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) describes them in its implant information: one supplies feeling to the lower lip, chin and lower teeth, the other supplies the tongue and helps with taste.
| Nerve | Where does it run? | What can a problem feel like? |
|---|---|---|
| Inferior alveolar nerve | In a canal in the lower jawbone below the roots of the back teeth; a branch exits near the premolars and supplies the lower lip and chin | Numbness, tingling, burning or pain in the lower lip, chin and gum |
| Lingual nerve | On the tongue side of the lower jaw, in the soft tissue right next to the bone | Numbness of one half of the tongue, altered taste, difficulty speaking and eating |
According to the review by Juodzbalys and colleagues, symptoms range from slight tingling to complete loss of feeling and pain. The University of Sheffield describes patients not feeling the rim of a glass on their lip or speaking less clearly; if the lingual nerve is affected, the tongue can be numb and taste missing on that side. CUH notes that these nerves can be bruised during surgery, causing tingling or numbness in the lip, chin or tongue and rarely altered taste; Mayo Clinic lists nerve damage among the risks of implant surgery.
Why does a nerve get irritated in the first place?
Juodzbalys and colleagues describe several mechanisms:
- The drill or the implant enters the nerve canal or presses on the nerve.
- Bleeding into the canal forms a clot that compresses the nerve.
- The bone overheats during drilling.
- The anaesthetic injection itself irritates the nerve.
- At the nerve’s exit point on the chin, stitches or swelling press on the nerve.
The most important factor is the distance between the implant and the nerve canal. In a systematic review with meta-analysis in the journal Medicina Oral (Peña-Cardelles and colleagues, 2025), no sensory disturbances occurred at a distance of 1 mm or more; at 0 to 1 mm the proportion was 68 percent, and when the canal was entered 53 percent. The authors point out that most studies were retrospective and defined nerve injury differently.
How common is persistent numbness?
No exact figure can be given. According to Juodzbalys and colleagues, the reported frequency of implant-related injuries to the inferior alveolar nerve ranges from 0 to 40 percent, because studies use different patient groups and definitions. More important: according to CUH, such disturbances usually recover after a few months and are rarely permanent. The emphasis is on lowering the risk at the planning stage.
How does CBCT planning lower the risk?
A cone-beam CT (CBCT) scan shows the course of the nerve canal and the height of bone above it in three dimensions. Juodzbalys and colleagues consider three-dimensional imaging more accurate than a panoramic X-ray, and Peña-Cardelles and colleagues explain that a panoramic image can magnify structures by about 20 to 30 percent and distort measurements.
A safety margin to the nerve is built into the plan: the 2018 consensus statement of the International Team for Implantology (ITI) recommends 2 mm to critical anatomical structures. If the bone height is not sufficient, a shorter implant, bone grafting or another form of tooth replacement comes into consideration. Why the scan is taken before implants is explained in our guide to CBCT scans before dental implants; how the plan is transferred to surgery, in our guide to guided implant surgery.
What should you do if numbness persists after the anaesthetic has worn off?
Report it immediately. The systematic review by Shavit and Juodzbalys (2014) recommends making the diagnosis within the first 36 hours and contacting the patient about six hours after surgery, when the anaesthetic should have worn off. If the X-ray shows contact between implant and canal, early removal of the implant is recommended. In the data reviewed, cases treated within 48 hours recovered fully, except for six patients with severe injuries.
For your trip this means the decisive window is the first one to two days after surgery, which usually falls within your stay. On the evening of surgery and the next morning, check deliberately whether your lip, chin and tongue feel normal, and tell us before your flight home if they do not.
When you get in touch, these details make the assessment easier:
- Exactly where the numbness is (lip, chin, tongue, gum) and on which side
- Whether there is also tingling, burning, an electric sensation or pain
- Whether your sense of taste has changed
- Whether the symptoms are decreasing over time
What belongs to normal healing in the first week is in our guide to the first week after dental implants.
What if the numbness is only noticed, or persists, once you are home?
Get in touch in two places at the same time. Message us on WhatsApp at +90 532 363 49 54 and describe the symptoms using the four points above; your treating dentist knows where your implant sits and can assess your CBCT scan. In parallel, see a dentist or an oral and maxillofacial surgery unit near you so that you can be examined in person. Take the copies of your X-rays and the treatment summary you received when you left; which documents these are is explained in our guide to documents for dental treatment in Türkiye.
Timing still matters: according to Juodzbalys and colleagues, a loss of feeling lasting longer than six months is regarded as permanent, and surgical nerve repair gives more predictable results when it is done within about the first three months. How follow-up works in general once you are home is described on our aftercare and follow-up page.
Does the numbness go away?
Usually, yes. According to data cited in the introduction of the review by Peña-Cardelles and colleagues, about 80 percent of those with a disturbance of the inferior alveolar nerve regained normal feeling within six months and 91 percent within a year; recovery times in the included studies ranged from under a week to 16 months.
According to Juodzbalys and colleagues, recovery depends on the extent of the damage:
- Mild irritation (pressure or bruising): feeling usually returns within a week and normalises in one to two months.
- Moderate injury: recovery takes 2 to 4 months, sometimes up to 12 months.
- Severed nerve: the chance of spontaneous recovery is low.
How do we plan implants near the nerve at Rönesans?
Before an implant in the back of the lower jaw, we measure the course of the nerve canal and the available bone height with the CBCT scanner at our clinic. We do not use a surgical guide for every patient; whether one makes sense near the nerve is decided by your dentist after the examination and the scan.
Our dentists draw up your treatment plan together, the same dentist looks after you after surgery, and the healing of the wound is checked before you leave. If numbness in your lip, chin or tongue persists after the anaesthetic has worn off, contact us immediately on WhatsApp at +90 532 363 49 54 or by phone on +90 264 606 09 43; we reply in English. The whole course of treatment is on our dental implants page.