Implants have emerged as a breakthrough treatment option and implant surgery is considered to be a rather safe surgical procedure with high success rate. However, there are some complications of any surgical procedure and it should be taken into account prior to surgery. Likewise, implant surgery can also have some complications which can either lead to complete implant failure or failure to achieve proper placement of implant.
This is a case of multiunit implant prosthesis wherein we noticed implant thread exposure during the second sit surgery. We had called the patient to make impressions when we noticed that three threads of the implant were exposed. This is a common complication in multiunit implant system and if not treated immediately, can lead to complete implant failure.
The patient had missing all the posterior teeth distal to canine on the right side. We had planned a multiunit implant supported tissue level prosthesis for this case and inserted Straumann BLX® implants around 3 months back. During the second sit surgery, when we noticed the exposed implant threads clinically and some bone loss radiographically, we knew we had to tend to it immediately. Our chief surgeon and leading implantologist, Dr. Rajat Sachdeva planned to place a free gingival graft onto the exposed implant surface. A full thickness flap was raised and free gingival graft harvested from the palate was placed on the recipient bed. This graft was then stabilized using sutures. Once the graft is completely secured, it is allowed to heal and then the rest of the procedure is continued like planned before. This is primarily because the implant placement was perfect and both the implants had completely osseointegrated satisfactorily.
Exposed implant poses a serious risk factor for numerous post-operative complications like peri-implantitis, implant mobility or even complete implant failure. Thin buccal bone has a risk of thread exposure, and placement of a graft is the mainline of treatment for thread exposure.
This procedure was carried out without any complications and the results were beautiful. We had successfully managed to prevent any problems like food lodgment and also the aesthetics were improved by maintaining the optimum gingival height.
We at Dr. Rajat Sachdeva’s dental clinic are well-known name in the field of implantology. Dr. Rajat Sachdeva has more than two decades of experience and has done more than 500+ cases of single and full mouth implants. We understand and appreciate when a patient trusts us with their teeth, and hence we take great care to execute such treatments. We are proud to say that we have achieved 100% success rate with almost all our cases.
We have an excellent follow-up team wherein we maintain detailed records of our patients and reach out to them regularly even after the treatment is over.