I had a dental implant placed. At the time, the oral surgeon perforated the sinus cavity by just a few millimeters. He told me this is fairly common and nothing to worry about. The problem came when the bone never attached to the implant like my dentist said it needed to. He decided we needed to take it out. When he did, I wasn’t given any antibiotics. A few days later, I started having some popping in my nose and a general achiness. At my next check-up, he said everything was fine, but I felt like I was developing an infection. I sort of pressured him to give me an antibiotic and I’m glad I did. Since taking the antibiotic, I’ve felt better. Should he have given me an antibiotic from the beginning?
Carol
Dear Carol,
Osseointegration of the bone to the implant is essential.
I am sorry that you had this problem. While I think your caregiver had some problems here, the antibiotic is not the problem. If there was no sign of infection then there was no reason to prescribe an antibiotic. It would have been detrimental. Getting you one after there is sign of infection is fine. However, there are still some concerns I have about this treatment.
Sinus Perforation with Dental Implants
While a perforated sinus does happen, it is not common. Maybe it is common for him. Plus, a few millimeters?! While that may not sound like much, in dental terms that is huge. How did this happen? Did he not do adequate diagnostics? One that some dentists skip is a CT scan. The problem with that is our oral cavity is three-dimensional. We need three-dimensional images in order to prevent not just a sinus perforation, but also having any dental implants impinge on a nerve. I would be asking some questions about his diagnosics.
A second issue to ask is why was there no osseointegration. The anchoring of the bone with the implant is essential if you want a successful implant case. Before I allowed this dentist to do any further work on you, I would want to know why yours failed.
Don’t feel bad about asking questions regarding your treatment as well as your dentist’s post doctoral training. If all he had was dental school, that is not enough.
This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.