Incidence of implant-related inferior alveolar nerve injuries

Just over a year ago, a research summary article discussed inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injury related to mandibular local anaesthetic injections. This month's summary highlights an increasing cause of inferior alveolar nerve injuries (IANIs)— dental implant placement. The authors highlight that damage to this nerve results in altered sensation and pain that may interfere with many of the social interactions we take for granted, such as eating, speaking and kissing. There is therefore a resultant major medico-legal implication with many of these injuries.

The incidence of implant-related IANIs varies widely (from 0% to 33%) among reports, and is also associated with harvesting bone from the mandible for grafts. While surgical attempts can be made to avoid nerve injury, such as repositioning the nerve and alveolar distraction (‘growing’ additional bone locally), these procedures themselves may inadvertently result in injury.