text: is it common for you to bite your tongue after oral surgery w/ general anethesia? my niece had general and local anethesia for oral surgery.  either as she was waking up or as they were removing the tube down her throat, she must have bit her tongue causing a deep, 1/2 inch laceration.  is it common for this to occur?  is it common practice/protocol for the medical staff to do something to prevent this?  is anyone at fault or is this just a rare, bad reaction? this is not rare to occur...coz it takes time for sensation to recover and so the patient my not even realise that he has bit his tongue, cheeks or lips... the only possible precaution is that the docs need to inform the patient to consciously avoid doing that or ask the relatives to take care wen it is a child patient. so it also depends on the age of your niece. while inserting the tube, they shud hold the tongue and retract the lips and cheeks in such a case. but still with all such precautions, soft tissue bites are quite common after oral surgeries especially under local anaesthesia.