The Root Cause: Investigating Intermittent Inferior Alveolar Nerve Paraesthesia from a Multi-Rooted Third Molar

This paper describes a case of intermittent inferior alveolar nerve paraesthesia temporally related to episodes of pericoronitis affecting a mandibular third molar in close association with the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN). A 23-year-old female patient was referred to Oral Surgery by Oral Medicine with a two-month history of intermittent, alternating numbness and pain associated with the lower left lip and chin. Clinical and radiographic investigations confirmed a partially erupted left mandibular third molar in close association with the IAN. Subsequent cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) revealed the lower left 8 (LL8) had two mesial and two distal roots. The IAN pathway perforated the distal roots and grooved the mesial. A coronectomy was completed resulting in the resolution of symptoms.