tongue numb after novacaine injection

My dentist numbed my right lower jaw before placing a permanent crown on my rear molars.  I experienced severe burning in my tongue when he injected me.  The right side of my tongue has been numb and chilled feeling for a month.  I was told it would go away eventually, that these things happen.  What happened and when can I expect to get the feeling back in my tongue?

Thanks

[Jerome Bogin, D.D.S.]

When local anesthesia is given to numb the lower jaw the lingual nerve(which innervates the tongue and gum tissue on the inside of your mouth) is adjacent to the nerve(inferior alveolar)that is the nerve that innervates the teeth on that side. It is a possibility that while the injection was given the needle either hit the lingual nerve or came very close to it. It is very common for that nerve to become numb from this type of injection. I think that the sensation will return but it might take some time. How much I do not know.