A root canal is supposed to save your tooth, not leave you with nerve damage. If your pain or numbness hasn’t settled weeks after your root canal, or things just don’t feel right in your jaw, lip, or tongue, something may have gone wrong.
Root canal nerve damage can happen due to poor technique or the careless use of cleaning solutions during the procedure.
When you suffer nerve damage after a root canal as a result of negligence, you may have the right to claim compensation. Contact TJL or call us on 0161 877 1066 for free advice on whether you have a claim.
Yes, it can be. Discomfort in the days following a root canal is expected. The area around the tooth has been worked on, and some tenderness or sensitivity is a normal part of healing. But what isn’t normal is pain or altered sensation that gets worse rather than better, or that persists past two to three weeks.
Nerve pain after root canal treatment that lingers or changes is a warning sign. Numbness in your lip or chin, burning, or tingling that doesn’t settle aren’t normal post-treatment side effects. If you experience these symptoms, the nerves surrounding the tooth may have been disturbed or damaged during the procedure.
Act quickly. The sooner nerve damage is identified, the better your chances of recovery. Go back to your dentist and tell them exactly what symptoms you’re experiencing and when they started. Your dentist should document your concerns and refer you for specialist assessment if the symptoms don’t settle within a few days.
If you feel your concerns aren’t being taken seriously, you can ask your GP for a referral to an oral and maxillofacial surgery department. An independent specialist can then examine the affected nerve and determine the likely cause of the damage. That assessment is also important evidence if you later decide to make a root canal nerve damage claim.
Make sure you keep a written record of your symptoms from the start, including when they began, if they’ve changed, and how they’ve affected your daily life.
In the lower back teeth, the root tips sit very close to the inferior alveolar nerve, which is why most root canal nerve injuries occur in this area.
But whether the damage is permanent depends on how the nerve was injured and how quickly it was identified and treated. Where the nerve has only been bruised or briefly irritated, it may recover over weeks or months.
If the injury was caused by sodium hypochlorite or overfilling material compressing the nerve, the damage is likely more serious. Permanent nerve damage after root canal treatment requires urgent specialist assessment. If your symptoms haven’t improved after several months and you can’t get any answers, speak to our solicitors about your options.
That means if you experience a nerve injury, your dentist wasn’t automatically negligent. What our solicitors assess is whether the risk was properly managed. When it wasn’t, it’s usually because of one of the following failures:
Each of these failures can lead to a root canal negligence claim. Our solicitors will review your records and tell you honestly whether you have a valid claim.
But you’ll need to show evidence that your dentist failed to meet the standard of a competent dental professional and that this failure caused your injury. Root canal nerve damage claims can be challenging to prove. The causes are often tricky to establish without expert analysis of your records and the timeline of your symptoms. Our solicitors work with independent dental experts who understand these cases well.
A little pain after dental work is normal, and most of it settles down within a few days. But if the pain lingers or gets worse, something may have gone wrong during treatment. And if your dentist made a mistake or treated you carelessly, you may have grounds for a legal claim.
A woman in her mid-forties won a £40,000 settlement after losing five teeth through 20 years of poor treatment from the same private dentist.
Most personal injury claims follow a similar process, whether you were hurt at work, in a road traffic accident, while cycling, or in a public place. But no two claims are exactly the same.
A personal injury claim can arise when someone else’s negligence causes your injury. This could be a careless driver, an employer, or a business that failed to fix a dangerous condition. But whether you have grounds to make a claim depends on how the accident happened and who is responsible. Not every accident necessarily leads to a valid personal injury claim.
Under the Limitation Act 1980, you have three years to bring a dental negligence claim, starting from the date of your root canal. If you only realised later that the procedure caused your symptoms, the clock may start from that point instead.
One exception worth knowing: if you were under 18 when the treatment took place, you have until your 21st birthday to make a claim. Root canal nerve damage cases can take time to investigate properly, so the earlier you get legal advice and start gathering evidence, the better.
Every root canal nerve damage claim is unique. What you receive depends on how serious your injury is and whether it’s likely to be permanent. The more your symptoms have affected your daily life, the higher your compensation is likely to be.
When TJL Solicitors assess your claim, they look at the entire impact of a nerve injury on your life, including:
Once we have the full picture, we can give you a realistic view of what your claim could be worth.
TJL Solicitors has been handling dental negligence claims since 2000. In that time, our solicitors have recovered over £43 million in compensation for clients. We win more than 95% of the claims we take on.
Root canal nerve damage claims are handled personally and in-house, with no hidden fees and a no-win-no-fee guarantee. You pay nothing unless you win compensation. Call us on 0161 877 1066 or contact our team when you’re ready to talk.
Our team of solicitors will handle your case personally.
We are based in Manchester and all our work is done in-house.
Our solicitors are fully trained and qualified to handle your case.
We are dedicated to winning your case and there are no hidden fees.
TJL Solicitors LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (registered number: OC367616) and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA Number: 564906). Registered office: Washbrook House, Lancastrian Office Centre, Talbot Road, Manchester, England, M32 0FP. A list of our partners can be found here. We use the word partner to refer to a member of the LLP.
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