Increase in Dental Implants Leads to Nerve Injuries

Dental implants have become the procedure of choice to replace extracted teeth. And for good reason. The technology has evolved to the point that dental implants can be safely placed where natural teeth used to be. Unfortunately, the increase in dental implants has resulted in an increase in nerve injuries caused by dental malpractice. There are many facial nerves that can be damaged by negligent dental care and treatment related to dental implants. The most common nerves injured when the dentist fails to take proper precautions include, but are not limited to the inferior alveolar nerve, the lingual nerve, the mental nerve, different branches of the mandibular nerve and the infra-orbital nerve (most commonly associated with the placement of an implant in the maxillary or upper jaw).

Proper pre-implant diagnostics and planning are essential for the correct placement of a dental implant. Absent this, the dentist cannot know for sure where the nerves are in the mouth and nerve injuries can occur.