How painful is it to remove a dental implant? (Photo)

Question

I had a dental implant placed incorrectly by a surgeon. Too far buccal. Now my dentist said the alignment being 4mm out of alignment from my bite needs to be pulled and redone. I'm angry and upset by this development. Also, the bone seems to have integrated perfectly with the crooked implant so I wonder how painful will this removal be? Do I have any other options?

Dan Hagi, DDS · Answer

The removal of titanium implants is becoming common place.  There are various implant removal kits on the market that make the procedure less traumatic.   Usually the implant can be unthreaded with minimal trauma.  It is no more painful then the removal of a tooth.   The only other solution is trying to restore the tooth in an incorrect position.  I think perhaps best to start over.  Good luck.

Juan C. Arroyo, DMD · Answer

In some situations, implants may appear to be placed in an unusual position, but many times they can still be restored adequately as the supporting abutment could be angulated to correct the path of insertion of the crown. If that is something that cannot be corrected in your case, removing an implant is not really a painful procedure but you will need to have additional bone grafting done and if done in a certain fashion, potentially have a new implant placed at the same time. This will minimize the number of procedures done. Good luck!

Joseph B. Silberman, DMD, FAGD · Answer

I saw your previous post and I agree you should have the implant redone. The difficulty (pain) will depend on several factors. First, how long the implant is and second, how locked into the bone it is. I've seen implants simply unscrewed using a special device and I've seen cases where the implant was removed by having to remove some bone around it. Unfortunately, if you want a tooth in that location, you'll need to remove that implant first.

Zev Kaufman, DDS · Answer

Dear loughann:I'm so sorry to see that you are having troubles with a routine procedure.  Yes, the implant can, and should be removed as soon as possible.  It is an routine procedure for a qualified professional.  You should go back and speak to the surgeon who placed the implant and have it removed.  Typically,  local anesthetic is given and a device that engages the inside of the implant can be connected and the implant can turned counterclockwise and taken out. usually there is no bone graft required and a new implant can be placed in a proper position within 6 weeks.   I would like to think that this was just a surgical error and a qualified professional would have no problems taking it out and replacing the implant for you.Best of luck

How painful is it to remove a dental implant? (Photo)

Answers (4)