A 31 year old woman had a chunk of her cheek and lip taken out while having two wisdom teeth extracted in September 2013 in Watford, England. She was left with permanent nerve damage as a result of the chunk of her cheek and lower lip being taken out with a pair of pliers that slipped while the dentist was performing the surgery. She had to have four stitches to repair the damage.
The woman stated that she was in the dental chair for over an hour for just one tooth extraction procedure and had to be given anesthesia twice because of the length of the surgery. The reason for the surgery was due to repeated inflammation of the wisdom teeth. She left the dental office bleeding from her cheek. She also experienced pain and swelling and went back to the dentist twice after the surgery. She complained of being unable to feel her lower left lip, teeth, or chin. She also stated that she experienced an earache and headaches that persisted for several weeks after the surgery. The permanent nerve damage is from across the left side of her mouth and from her front lip all the way to the back of her jaw. As a result of this the woman sometimes can dribble when she talks which is problematic when talking in public. This has led to her holding her hand in front of her mouth when she talks.
Dental records revealed the dentist did not carry out the teeth extraction with “due care and attention.” The woman was awarded an out of court settlement of £22,000 in April, 2018 from the dentist or roughly around $27,500 in USD. However the dentist denied any liability and put out a statement that said he did not agree with the facts.
There have been other cases of soft tissue damage and burns occurring during wisdom teeth removal to the cheek and lip area, see for example http://www.teethremoval.com/complications.html. However this is typically due to
electric dental handpieces that are poorly maintained or overheat and then slip out of place. In this case, the woman’s cheek and lip were damaged by a pair of pillars that slipped. This left an area of injury measuring between 3.5 cm to 7 cm wide by 5.5 cm long from her lip to her jaw. This is certainly larger than in some of the other cases with the burns to the cheek and lip area from an electric dental handpiece. See also https://blog.teethremoval.com/wisdom-teeth-removal-can-lead-to-teasing-and-unwanted-nicknames/ where it was discussed how such injuries can lead to unwanted teasing and nicknames such as being the Joker’s cousin in reference to the Batman character the Joker and his scarred face.
Sources:
- Daily Mail, “Dentist cut chunk out of patient’s cheek and lip when his hand slipped on pliers as she gets £22,000 compensation,” July 13, 2018, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5951073/Dentist-cut-chunk-patients-cheek-lip-hand-slipped-pliers.html
- Jon Rogers, “Dentist cut out a chunk of woman’s lip AND cheek when he slipped holding pliers during op,” The Sun, Published July 13, 2018, Updated July 14, 2018, https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6774766/dentist-cut-chunk-woman-lip-cheek-slipped-pliers/
- Rory Butler, “Watford woman receives £22,000 after dentist sliced left cheek,” Watford Observer, July 12, 2018, https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/16350180.watford-woman-receives-22000-after-dentist-sliced-left-cheek/