The Metal Screw Covering my New Implant Fell off and I Am on Holiday, What Should I Do?

Under normal circumstances, if an implant cover screw were to come off the implant, it would be best to have it placed back on the implant right away.  The reason we like for it to go back is that the soft tissue is maturing around this cover screw and if the implant is left uncovered (without the cover screw) the soft tissue will collapse into the platform head of the implant.  The soft tissue collapse will lead to difficulty in connecting the head of the implant to the implant abutment causing a misfit.  Even if tissue collapse were to occur due to extended time without the implant cover screw, the problem can easily be corrected by having a dental laser cut through the soft tissue with a high energy wavelength that will not overheat the implant.  This is critical if we are looking for a favorable long term prognosis for the implant restoration.  

Save the screw, also the tooth most likely will stay in without the screw, I suggest you place a small piece of cotton in the hole and if you know what type of implant and you have the screw most dentist who do implant dentistry should be able to scew it back in good luck

 

Kevin Coughlin DMD, MBA, MAGD     CEO  Baystate Dental PC