Dysesthesia of the lingual and inferior alveolar nerves following third molar surgery.

A summary of the responses to the questions in a national survey pertaining to nerve dysfunction and the standard of care for such dysfunction is presented. The lingual nerve had a functional alteration rate of one in every 1756 patients, and about 13% of these alterations persisted for more than a year. The inferior alveolar nerve had a functional alteration rate of one in every 241 patients, with about 3.5% of these alterations persisting for more than a year. The standard of care did not include microsurgical or other surgical correction.