What is a Keyhole Dental Implant?

The idea is a tissue punch, like a dermatologist would use for a biopsy.  I small circle of tissue is removed instead of a large flap which can be uncomfortable after the surgery is done and take longer to heal.  Many practitioners prefer this approach, but some surgeries simply cannot avoid using a flap.

The "keyhole" technique, as mentioned previously, is a tecnique in which a standard tissue flap is not made but instead a small piece of tissue is removed with a tissue punch or a special drill in the area of the implant placement.  This theoretically allows for less post op pain, but not always.  The surgeon must be confident of the architecture of the underlying bone becasue he/she will not be able to visulaize it during the surgery.  The only way to be absoluteley sure is to have a CT scan with a surgical guide made with specialized software based on the CT scan.  IT is nice to be able to perform the surgery this way, but it is not always in the patients best interest if the surgeon does not have the experience to do it properly

I have done both surgical procedures.  While it is an easier post operative recovery with a keyhole or flapless surgery more often than not it is not the way to go. By lifting a flap the dentist can better visualize the underlying bony structures and increase the chances of success.  A word to the wise is that several dentist that I have spoken to who have just started to do implant surgery only do a keyhole approach because they are not comfortable with handling a flap and sutures.