Dental implants help people replace their missing teeth and to enjoy one of life’s pleasures, eating. When providers place them correctly, they last for years. This empowers patients to live as they always have with a renewed sense of confidence and comfort. But implant surgery carries serious risks. When a provider falls below the acceptable standard of care, severe complications follow.
Implant hardware, particularly that which is not installed correctly, can fail or move after surgery is over. Screws can loosen up, snap, or travel where a patient would never expect. Hardware you expected to help heal your mouth can end up lodged into your sinus cavity. Patients who experience these troubles often live with the pain for months to years before getting new providers who can locate the lost hardware.
How Complications Occur
Not every poor outcome at the dentist is malpractice. Dentistry, like all other medical practices, has known risks. A bad result alone cannot prove negligence has occurred. Still, some complications stem from a provider who missed the standard of care. Common errors include the following.
- Choosing the wrong implant size or placing it incorrectly.
- Planning treatment poorly without reviewing local sinus anatomy.
- Ignoring a patient who reports ongoing pain after surgery.
- Failing to diagnose loose, broken, or shifted hardware quickly.
When a dentist ignores repeated complaints, a small issue becomes a medical emergency.
Migrated Hardware Causes Damage
Your body cannot dissolve or push out a stray titanium screw. A broken piece sitting in your sinus tissue stays there until a surgeon removes it. As you go about your daily routine, talking, breathing, or eating, the broken piece can be moved causing additional damage. This is unacceptable for patients who underwent the operation expecting relief only to wake up with extra disability.
Patients usually need corrective surgery from an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialist. That process means even more procedures (with their own risks), longer recovery times, huge medical bills, missed work hours, and a ton of unnecessary pain. You end up paying even more to fix the problem you paid your dentist to solve.
What To Do If You Suspect Malpractice
If you feel persistent pain, sinus pressure, or unexplained symptoms near an implant site after a dental operation, you should take immediate action. Don’t wait for these problems to fade over time. Every day a migrated piece of dental hardware is left alone is another day of damage done.
Get an independent second opinion. Louisville has a plethora of dentists, oral surgeons, and ENT specialists who want to help. These oral healthcare professionals can provide fresh imaging to determine if any installed hardware has shifted. If you are a victim of shifting hardware, make sure to request all medical records as you get corrective treatment. You have a legal right to your dental charts, treatment, notes, and X-rays which show the timeline of where the operations went wrong. If those specialists remove any broken screws or components, ask them to save the evidence.
Speak With An Attorney
Medical and dental malpractice laws enforce strict time limits. If you wait too long, you lose your right to file a claim. These cases also depend on detail. Success relies on swiftly preparing medical records, imaging, clear timelines, and expert testimony.
Our team has successfully handled several dental malpractice cases with the care and attention they deserve. If a botched dental implant harmed you or a family member, our office can review your records and explain your options.
Feel free to call us at 502-771-0588 or email aaronkemper@lawhelplouisville.com.