Nerve injuries from mandibular third molar removal.

Injuries to peripheral branches (IAN, LN, LBN) of the trigeminal nerve during the removal of M3s are known and accepted risks in oral and maxillofacial surgery practice. These risks might be reduced by modifications of evaluation or surgical techniques, depending on the surgeon's judgment in individual patients. If a nerve injury does occur, prompt recognition, subjective and objective evaluation,and development of a treatment plan, if the sensory deficit fails to resolve in a reasonable period and is unacceptable to the patient, give the patient the best chance of achieving improvement or recovery of sensory function in the distribution of the injured nerve. Microneurosurgery may produce return of useful sensory function or complete sensory recovery, if done in a timely fashion by an experienced microsurgeon, in greater than 80% of patients who sustain nerve injuries during the removal of M3s.